CN101777367B - drive unit - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a drive device. The drive device (310) includes a recording/reproducing unit (314) and a drive control unit (311). The drive control device (311) performs a process including: receiving a reproducing instruction; responding to the reproducing instruction, determining whether or not the reproducing of the up-to-date alternation administration information list has succeeded; when the reproducing of the up-to-date alternation administration information list has failed, controlling the recording/reproduction unit (314) to reproduce the locating information before alternation recorded in the alternative area and the user data area; generating the up-to-date alternation administration information list based on the reproduced locating information before alternation; and controlling the recording/reproduction unit (314) to record the up-to-date alternation administration information list in the prescribed position.

Description

drive unit

The present invention relates to a divisional application whose parent application is the following application:

Application date: June 15, 2005

Application number: 200580027216.6

Invention name: driving device

technical field

The present invention relates to a drive device for recording data on an information recording medium and reproducing the data recorded on the information recording medium.

Background technique

In recent years, various types of information recording media have been used to record digital data. There are rewritable optical discs that can rewrite data repeatedly, and write-once optical discs that limit the number of recording times to one and the media is cheap. .

Examples of such rewritable optical discs include DVD-RAM discs, BD-RE (Blu-ray Disc Rewritable) discs, and the like.

In addition, examples of write-once optical discs include DVD-R discs, BD-R (Blu-ray Disc Recordable) discs, and the like.

In rewritable optical discs, a defect management mechanism is introduced in order to improve the reliability of data recorded on the disc.

The defect management mechanism is roughly composed of a slipping replacement algorithm and a linear replacement algorithm.

The move replacement algorithm is mainly implemented when the disk is formatted. That is, during the formatting process, all ECC clusters in the user data area are checked, and once a defective cluster is found, its position is registered in the primary defect list (hereinafter referred to as PDL), so that the corresponding logical cluster is dislocated corresponding to the A physical cluster of defects.

As a result, when recording user data, recording can be performed while avoiding defective clusters registered in the PDL, thereby improving the reliability of data recording.

On the other hand, the linear replacement algorithm is implemented when recording user data.

That is, when data is recorded, verification processing for confirming the recording result is performed. In the case of a recording failure, the ECC cluster on which the recording was performed becomes a defective cluster, and its position is managed by a secondary defect list (hereinafter referred to as SDL).

After that, user data is instead recorded in alternate areas provided on the disc at the innermost or outermost circumference.

The verification process described above is also performed in the substitute recording process. If the recording is successful, the data recording position is determined, so at this time, information corresponding to the position information of the defective cluster and the position information of the ECC cluster of the replacement destination, that is, an SDL entry (SDL Entry), is generated and registered in the above SDL middle.

In some cases, SDL entries are set for all ECC clusters included in the replacement area, and whether each ECC cluster can be used as a replacement destination, that is, whether the area is currently empty or has already been used as a replacement destination is managed. Empty areas in this alternate area are also referred to as free clusters.

When playing back, refer to the PDL or SDL, and play back the ECC cluster of the replacement destination as necessary.

The PDL or SDL described above is recorded in a defect management area (hereinafter referred to as DMA) provided in the lead-in area on the disc. In DMA, information such as the capacity of the alternate area is also included.

In the case of a rewritable optical disc, updating of information on defect management is performed by rewriting DMA.

In addition, in a write-once optical disc, as shown in Patent Document 1, a defect management mechanism may be introduced.

The data structure of the disc is described in FIG. 3A of Patent Document 1. The disc of Patent Document 1 has DMAs provided in the lead-in area and the lead-out area.

And, a temporary defect management area (TDMA) is set in the lead-in area and the lead-out area.

In the case of a write-once optical disc, updating of information on defect management is performed by supplementing the defect information into the TDMA every time the defect information is updated.

In addition, when closing or finalizing of the disc is performed, the contents of the latest TDMA are recorded in the DMA.

In TDMA, temporary defect management information (Temporary defect management information: hereinafter referred to as TDDS) and temporary defect information (Temporary Defect Information: hereinafter referred to as TDFL) are recorded.

FIG. 5B of Patent Document 1 shows the data structure of TDDS. TDDS contains pointer information to the corresponding TDFL. Since TDFLs are recorded multiple times in TDMA, pointer information is also recorded in each TDFL.

Also, in TDDS, the last recorded address (lastrecorded adderss) on the write-once optical disc is recorded. As shown in FIG. 5B of Patent Document 1, there may be a plurality of final recording addresses for one write-once optical disc.

In addition, the last recorded replacement address (lastrecorded replacement adderss) on the write-once optical disc is recorded in TDDS. As shown in FIG. 5B of Patent Document 1, it is possible to have a plurality of final recording alternate addresses for one disc.

FIG. 6 of Patent Document 1 shows the data structure of TDFL.

TDFL contains defect related information (information regarding defect) #1, #2,,,, etc.

Defect-related information includes state information, pointers to defective clusters, and pointers to replacement clusters.

The defect-related information realizes the same data structure and function as the SDL entry contained in the above-mentioned SDL.

33A and 33B show the updating method of the TDFL disclosed in FIG. 9A and FIG. 9B of Patent Document 1. FIG.

Fig. 33A shows the data structure of TDFL#0. TDFL #0 includes defect related information #1, #2, #3 for defects #1, #2, #3.

After TDFL #0 is recorded, new data recording is performed on the write-once optical disc, and defects #4 and #5 are generated. At this time, TDFL#1 shown in FIG. 33B is recorded on the write-once optical disc.

Here, TDFL#1 is generated by newly adding defect-related information #4 and #5 for defects #4 and #5 while maintaining all the defect management information included in TDFL#1.

FIG. 10 of Patent Document 1 shows a data structure of defect-related information.

The defect-associated information includes status information. The status information includes information indicating whether the defective area is a continuous defect block or a single defect block.

Also, the defect-related information includes a pointer to a defective area (the position of the defective area on the disc).

And, the defect-related information includes a pointer to a replacement area corresponding to the defective area.

When the defective area is a sequence of consecutive defective blocks, the state information indicates that the pointer to the defective area is the start or end position of the consecutive defective blocks. In addition, the pointers to the replacement areas indicate the start or end positions of these replacement blocks.

By using these data structures, a defect management mechanism is realized in write-once optical discs.

Furthermore, if the above-mentioned defect management mechanism is used, pseudo-overwrite recording can also be realized on a write-once optical disc.

The pseudo-overwrite recording on the write-once information recording medium will be described with reference to FIGS. 31 and 32. FIG.

As described above, in the defect management mechanism, the physical address of the actual recorded data is mapped to another location secured in advance by using alternate information such as defect-related information and SDL entries, without changing the apparent logical address of the recorded data.

Therefore, when the rewriting of data is instructed to the recorded logical address on the write-once optical disc, the data is recorded in a sector on another physical address, and if the replacement information is updated to maintain the original logical address, then Rewriting the state in which data is recorded can be achieved apparently. Hereinafter, this recording method is referred to as pseudo-overwrite recording.

FIG. 31 is a diagram showing a state in which several directories and files are recorded on the information recording medium 1 which is a write-once optical disc. In this state, it is assumed that pseudo-overwrite recording has not yet been performed.

In the write-once optical disc, the user data area on the disc is managed in units such as a track and a session.

In FIG. 31, management of user data recorded on the user data area is performed by the file system. The space managed by the file system is referred to as volume space 2 .

In the following description, as the volume/file structure constituting the file system, descriptors or pointers recorded in the information recording medium 1, metadata partitions, and metadata file structures, etc., are defined in accordance with ISO unless otherwise specified in detail. /IEC13346 standard or UDF (Universal Disk Format: Universal Disk Format) standard stipulates the data structure.

In FIG. 31, in the volume space 2, a volume structure area 3 and a physical partition 4 are recorded.

In the physical partition 4, metadata partitions 5a and 5b specified by the UDF standard version 2.5 are included.

In addition, in the physical partition 4, a metadata file 6a and a metadata mirror file 6b copied therefrom are recorded.

In addition, file entries (FE) indicating their recording positions in the physical partition 4 , that is, FE (metadata file) 7 a and FE (metadata mirror file) 7 b are recorded. In addition, a data file (File-a) 8 and a data file (File-b) 9 are also recorded.

All the information of the file structure such as FE or directory file is configured in the metadata partition, that is, the metadata file.

In the data structure specified by the UDF standard, the recording positions of the metadata partition 5 a and the file set descriptor (FSD) 12 are recorded in the volume structure area 3 .

As the starting point of the FSD 12 , the file structure, for example, the accessible data file (File-a) 8 is sequentially retrieved from the root (ROOT) directory.

After that, if the data file (File-c) is simulated and rewritten again in the state of FIG. 31, the state shown in FIG. 32 will be obtained.

Here, it is assumed that a data file (File-c) is recorded directly under the root directory on the information recording medium 1 .

When the data file (File-c) is recorded, the information of the file structure required to add the data file (File-c) is updated and generated. Specifically, FE (root) 13 is updated or FE (File-c) 14 is generated.

After that, the data file (File-c) 15 is recorded in the unrecorded area of FIG. 31, and the state of FIG. 32 is obtained.

When the FE(File-c) 14 is recorded, the FE(File-c) 14 is recorded in the unrecorded area 11a within the metadata partition 5a (ie, the metadata file 6a).

Thereafter, the FE (root) 16 is simulated to be overwritten to the FE (root) 13 .

At this time, as shown in FIG. 32 , data of FE (root) 16 is recorded in alternate area 17 .

Then, the alternation information included in the disk management information 2 is updated, and the FE (root) 13 is mapped to the FE (root) 16 .

After the recording process of such a file is executed, the operation of the playback data file (File-c) 15 is as follows.

The location information of FE (metadata file) 7a and FSD 12 is obtained from the volume structure area 3 of the information recording medium 1 .

Afterwards, reproduction of the file structure is performed. In order to reproduce the file structure, the FSD12 is reproduced based on the acquired FE (metadata file) 7a and the location information of the FSD12.

Based on the reproduced FSD 12, the location information of the FE (root) 13 is acquired as a logical address.

Based on the acquired position information (logical address) of the FE (root) 13, playback of the FE (root) 13 is performed.

At this time, referring to the alternate information, the FE (root) 16 mapped to the position information (logical address) of the FE (root) 13 is reproduced.

FE (root) 16 includes the latest root directory file, so it has location information to FE (File-c) 14 .

Using the location information of the data file (File-c) 15 obtained from the FE (File-c) 14, the playback of the data file (File-c) 15 is executed.

As described above, even in a write-once optical disc, it is possible to perform pseudo-overwrite recording by using the defect management mechanism.

Patent Document 1: Specification of US Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0076096

However, in the pseudo-overwrite recording method of the write-once optical disc described above, if there is no unrecorded area in the alternate area, there is a problem that no more data can be recorded even if an unrecorded area remains in the user data area. This is because the file system information cannot be updated.

In particular, in the case of a write-once optical disc, unlike a rewritable optical disc in which the capacity of the spare area can be expanded when necessary, the capacity of the spare area is determined when the disc is formatted (initialized).

In addition, assuming that pseudo-overwrite recording is performed, it is difficult to determine an appropriate spare area capacity in advance.

If the capacity of the spare area determined in advance is large, the capacity of the user data area will be reduced. If the capacity of the spare area determined in advance is too small, it will result in a situation where data cannot be recorded even though an unrecorded area remains in the user data area. occur. In either case, the user data area of the write-once optical disc cannot be effectively utilized.

Contents of the invention

The present invention was made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a drive device capable of using a user data area without waste in pseudo-overwrite recording of a write-once optical disc.

The drive device of the present invention is a drive device for reproducing data recorded on a write-once recording medium, wherein the write-once recording medium includes an alternate area and a user data area, and the alternate area and the The user data area includes a plurality of ECC clusters respectively, and the plurality of ECC clusters respectively include a plurality of physical sectors, and position information before replacement is respectively recorded in the plurality of ECC clusters, and the data recording performed according to the recording instruction is In the case of overwriting, information indicating that alternate recording is not performed is set in the pre-alternation position information, and when the data recording performed according to the recording instruction is the first simulated overwrite recording, the pre-alternation position information is set to The location information sets information indicating a location specified by the recording instruction, and when the data recording executed according to the recording instruction is the second or subsequent pseudo-overwrite recording, the pre-alternation location information is set to indicate The information indicating that the position designated by the recording instruction alternates destinations, the drive device includes: a recording and reproducing unit that performs a recording operation or a reproducing operation on the write-once recording medium; and a drive control unit that controls the recording and reproducing unit. wherein the drive control unit at least executes: receiving a playback instruction; in response to the playback instruction, determining whether playback of the latest replacement management information list has failed; when it is determined that playback of the latest replacement management information list has failed, controlling the recording and reproducing section to reproduce pre-alternation position information recorded in the alternate area and the user data area; generating the latest alternation management information list based on the reproduced pre-alternation position information; and controlling The recording and reproducing unit is configured to record the latest replacement management information list in the predetermined location.

It may also be characterized in that: when it is determined that reproduction of the latest replacement management information list has failed, the recorded replacement management information list is read, and the latest replacement management information list that has been successfully reproduced is selected, and when it is determined that the replacement management information list is the When the reproduction of the latest replacement management information list fails, the pre-replacement position information reproduced from the user data area is the pre-replacement position information reproduced from an area including data in the user data area, This data is recorded after the recording data registered in the latest replacement management information list that has been successfully reproduced, and the reproduction is generated based on the position information before replacement of the reproduction and the latest replacement management information list that has been successfully reproduced. List of up-to-date alternate management information.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a drive device capable of using a user data area without waste in pseudo-overwrite recording of a write-once optical disc.

Description of drawings

FIG. 1A is a diagram showing an external appearance of an example of an information recording medium 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1B is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of the information recording medium 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1C is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of the user data area 108 shown in FIG. 1B.

FIG. 2A is a diagram showing an example of a data structure of segment management information 200 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2B is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of track management information 210 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2C is a diagram showing an example of a data structure of empty area management information 220 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of disc structure information 1100 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure of another information recording medium 100b according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5A is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of the replacement management information list 1000 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5B is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of the replacement management information 1010 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an example configuration of an information recording and reproducing device 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure on an information recording medium after format processing according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8A is a flowchart showing recording processing in the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 8B is a flowchart showing RMW processing in the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure on an information recording medium after recording processing in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing playback processing in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure of replacement management information 1010B in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of data structures of a physical address space and a logical address space in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13A is an explanatory diagram related to alternate recording according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13B is an explanatory diagram of replacement management information related to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 14A is an explanatory diagram related to alternate recording according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 14B is an explanatory diagram of replacement management information according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 15A is an explanatory diagram related to alternate recording according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15B is an explanatory diagram of replacement management information related to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16A is an explanatory diagram related to alternate recording according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16B is an explanatory diagram of replacement management information related to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 17A is an explanatory diagram related to alternate recording according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 17B is an explanatory diagram related to the replacement management information according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure of a DFL entry 2010 as replacement management information according to an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 19A is a flowchart showing recording processing according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 19B is a flowchart showing recording processing according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20A is an explanatory diagram related to alternate recording according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20B is an explanatory diagram of replacement management information related to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 21A is an explanatory diagram related to alternate recording according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 21B is an explanatory diagram of replacement management information related to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 22A is an explanatory diagram related to alternate recording according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 22B is an explanatory diagram of replacement management information according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 23A is an explanatory diagram related to alternate recording according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 23B is an explanatory diagram of replacement management information according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 24A is an explanatory diagram related to alternate recording according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 24B is an explanatory diagram related to the replacement management information according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 25 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of track management information according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 26A is an explanatory diagram related to alternate recording according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 26B is an explanatory diagram of replacement management information according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 27 is an explanatory diagram related to alternate recording according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 28 is an explanatory diagram related to alternate recording according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 29 is an explanatory diagram related to alternate recording according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 30 is an explanatory diagram related to alternate recording according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 31 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure on a conventional information recording medium.

Fig. 32 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure on an information recording medium after file recording processing in the prior art.

Fig. 33A is a diagram showing an example of a data structure of a conventional TDFL.

Fig. 33B is a diagram showing an example of a data structure of a conventional TDFL.

Fig. 34 is an explanatory diagram related to alternate recording according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 35 is an explanatory diagram of replacement management information according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 36A is a flowchart showing recording processing according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 36B is a flowchart showing recording processing according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 36C is a flowchart showing recording processing according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 37 is a flowchart showing playback processing according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 38A is an explanatory diagram related to alternate recording according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 39A is an explanatory diagram related to alternate recording according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 39B is an explanatory diagram related to the replacement management information according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 40A is an explanatory diagram related to alternate recording according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 41 is an explanatory diagram related to alternate recording according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 42 is a flowchart showing regeneration processing according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 43A is an explanatory diagram related to alternate recording according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 43B is an explanatory diagram of replacement management information according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed ways

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1)

FIG. 1A shows the appearance of an information recording medium 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

A lead-in area 101 is arranged on the innermost periphery of the information recording medium 100 . A lead-out area 103 is arranged on the outermost periphery of the information recording medium 100 . A data area 102 is arranged between a lead-in area 101 and a lead-out area 103 of the information recording medium 100 .

In the lead-in area 101, reference information necessary for an optical pickup included in the recording/reproducing unit 314 described later to access the information recording medium 100, identification information with other recording media, and the like are recorded. The same information as that recorded in the lead-in area 101 is also recorded in the lead-in area 103 .

A plurality of physical sectors are allocated to the lead-in area 101 , the data area 102 and the lead-out area 103 . Each physical sector is the smallest access unit. Each physical sector is identified by address information called a physical sector number (hereinafter referred to as PSN).

Data is recorded and reproduced using an ECC cluster (or ECC block) including a plurality of physical sectors as the smallest unit.

FIG. 1B shows the data structure of the information recording medium 100 . In FIG. 1B , the horizontal arrangement shows the lead-in area 101 , the data area 102 and the lead-out area 103 shown as concentric circles in FIG. 1A .

The lead-in area 101 includes a disc management information area 104 , and the lead-out area 103 includes a disc management information area 105 .

Disc management information is recorded in the disc management information areas 104 and 105 . The disk management information includes an alternate management information list to be described later, session management information, free area management information, and the like. The disc management information areas 104, 105 are used as areas for updating disc management information. This update area is also called a temporary disk management information area.

In the case of applying the present invention to the BD-R standard, the term 'disc management information area' in this specification is read as 'disc management area', and the term 'temporary disc management information area' in this specification is read as ' For the temporary disk management area', the term 'disk management information' in this specification is read as 'disk management structure', and the term 'temporary disk management information' in this specification is read as 'temporary disk management structure'.

The data area 102 includes an inner alternate area 106 , a user data area 108 and an outer alternate area 107 .

The user data area 108 is an area for recording user data.

FIG. 1C shows the data structure of the user data area 108 .

The user data area 108 includes a plurality of sectors. Each section contains multiple tracks.

Each track is a continuous area on the information recording medium 100 . Each track is managed by track management information described later.

In addition, when the present invention is applied to the BD-R standard, the term 'track' in this specification is read as 'sequential recording region (SRR)'.

Each session includes a plurality of tracks continuously arranged on the information recording medium 100 . Each session is managed by session management information described later.

FIG. 2A shows the data structure of session management information 200 for managing sessions. The session management information 200 is included in the disc management information.

The session management information 200 includes title information 201 and pieces of track management information.

The header information 201 includes general information such as an identifier of the session management information 200 and the number of track management information 210 shown in FIG. 2B .

Track management information #N has information corresponding to track #N shown in FIG. 1C. Here, N is an integer of 1 or more.

FIG. 2B shows the data structure of track management information 210 for managing tracks. Track management information 210 is included in disc management information.

The track management information 210 includes session start information 211 indicating whether the track is the head track of a session, track start position information 212 indicating the start position of the track, and the last data recording position in the track indicating the position where data is last recorded in the track. Information (hereinafter referred to as LRA) 213 .

When a track managed by certain track management information 210 is located at the head of a section, a value indicating that the track is located at the head of the section (for example, “1”) is set to the section start information 211 . In other cases, a different value (for example, “0”) is set to the section start information 211 .

The track start position information 212 includes a physical address indicating the start position of the track.

The last data recording position information in a track 213 includes a physical address indicating the final position in a track where valid data is recorded. Valid data is, for example, user data provided from the host device 305 . LRA120 or LRA121 shown in FIG. 1C is an example of the last data recording position information 213 in a track.

In addition, when the present invention is applied to the BD-R standard, the term 'track management information' in this specification is read as 'sequential recording area entry', and the term 'session management information' in this specification is read as as 'sequentially record area information'.

When the information recording medium 100 performs data recording with an ECC cluster as the minimum unit, the in-track final data recording position information 213 does not always match the ECC cluster boundary. This is because, generally, the data capacity indicated by the record is not an integral multiple of the capacity of the ECC cluster. At this time, LRA 213 indicates the address of the last physical sector in which the data of the recording instruction is recorded.

Also, when the LRA 213 does not coincide with the ECC cluster boundary, padding data (padding data) is recorded until the ECC cluster boundary after recording the indicated data.

In this embodiment, data can be recorded for each track. New data recording is performed from the head of each track, and data is continuously arranged in the track (sequential recording). When data recording is performed in the track, the last recorded position in the track is reflected in the last data recording position information 213 in the track.

When the recording is restarted in the track, the next recording start position in the track can be known by checking the value of the last data recording position information 213 in the latest track.

After a track is allocated, if no data is recorded in the track at all, a predetermined value (for example, "0") indicating this state may be set in the last data recording position information 213 in the track.

The next recordable position (hereinafter referred to as NWA) indicates the position of the physical sector next to the physical sector indicated by the last data recording position information 213 in the track. Alternatively, when the information recording medium 100 performs data recording with a certain ECC cluster as the minimum unit, NWA indicates the head position of the next ECC cluster of the ECC cluster including the physical sector indicated by the last data recording position information 213 in the track .

If it is represented by a formula, it is as shown in (Formula 1).

(Formula 1)

(a) When LRA≠0,

NWA＝N×(Floor(LRA/N)+1)

N: the number of physical sectors included in the ECC cluster (for example, N=32)

(b) When LRA=0,

NWA=(corresponding to the start position of the track)

Wherein, Floor(x) is the largest integer value below x.

In the following description, it is assumed that NWA indicates the head position of an ECC cluster.

A track in a state where data can be recorded is called an open track.

The track numbers of the open tracks are included in the header information 201 of the session management information 200 shown in FIG. 2A (for example, the first open track number 203 , the second open track number 204 , etc.).

On the other hand, a track that is not an open track is called a closed track.

For example, a track with no unrecorded area or a track designated by the user is a closed track.

Unlike open tracks, track numbers of closed tracks are not stored in the header information 210 in the session management information 200 .

Recording data to closed tracks is prohibited.

The unrecorded area on the information recording medium 100 can be known by checking the open track number and the last data recording location information 213 in the track in the track management information 210 .

When the present invention is applied to the BD-R standard, the open track means open SRR. Also, turning off the track means turning off the SRR.

In addition, in the write-once type information recording medium 100, by managing recorded ECC clusters, a random recording of recording data in an arbitrary position (physical address) on the information recording medium can be performed.

In order to realize such random recording, it is necessary to manage the empty area on the information recording medium 100 and manage the final data recording position.

In this embodiment, such management is realized using the free area management information 220 shown in FIG. 2C and the disk management information recorded in the disk management information areas 104 and 105 .

In the case of performing random recording, empty area management information 220 shown in FIG. 2C is recorded in the disc management information area 104 .

FIG. 2C shows the data structure of the empty area information 220. As shown in FIG. Empty area information 220 includes title information 221 , managed area information 222 , and vacant area information 223 .

The header information 221 includes general information such as an identifier of the empty area management information 220 .

The managed area information 222 includes information specifying an area in the user data area 108 including sectors whose unrecorded/recorded states are managed by the empty area management information 220 . For example, the managed area information 222 includes the start position of the area or the length of the area.

The empty area information 223 includes information indicating whether each ECC cluster included in the area constituting the management target is unrecorded or recorded. For example, 1 bit of data is assigned to each ECC cluster, and if the ECC cluster is unrecorded, for example, "0" is set, and if the ECC cluster is recorded, for example, "1" is set, whereby the data for the target area can be managed. Empty status of all ECC clusters.

The disc management information recorded in the disc management information area 104 includes the disc configuration information 1100 shown in FIG. 3 . The disc structure information 1100 includes final data recording position information 1107 . The last data recording position information 1107 includes a physical address indicating the position where data is last recorded in the user data area 108 .

The disk configuration information 1100 also includes: general information 1101 about the entire disk configuration information 1100; replacement management information list position information 1102 indicating the position information of the latest replacement management information list 1000 in the disk management information areas 104 and 105; The user area start position information 1103 of the starting position of 108; the user area terminal position information 1104 representing the terminal position of the user area 108; the disk management information area information 1107b; Alternate area information 1105 and alternate area management information 1108 for an alternate area.

By using the disc management information area information 1107b, the capacity of the disc management information area can be changed for each information recording medium. Furthermore, by using the disk management information area information 1107b, the capacity of the temporary disk management information area can be changed in the inner spare area 106 or the outer spare area 107.

By using the spare area information 1105, the capacity of the spare area can be changed for each information recording medium. For example, the capacity of the inner alternate region 106 or the outer alternate region 107 can be designated as 0.

The replacement area management information 1108 includes next usable position information indicating next available positions in the inner circumference replacement area 106 and the outer circumference replacement area 107 .

In each alternate area, it is recorded sequentially as in the track. The next usable position information in each spare area realizes the same function as the NWA in the track, and recording of new data to each spare area is performed sequentially from the position indicated by the next usable position information.

The disc structure information 1100 also includes: segment management information position information 1109, indicating the position information of the latest segment management information 200 in the disc management information area 104, 105; and empty area management information position information 1110, indicating the latest empty area The management information 220 is position information within the disc management information areas 104 and 105 .

As described above, the empty status of physical sectors on the information recording medium 100 can be managed using either the session management information 200 or the empty area management information 220 . Thus, one of the segment management information 200 and the empty area management information 220 can be selectively used according to the usage. Or, use both at the same time. Such information related to the free area management method is included in the recording type information 1106 of the disc structure information 1100 .

The disc management information area 105 is an extended area used in the following case, so detailed description will be omitted below. In this case, a copy of the disc management information recorded in the disc management information area 104 is recorded in order to improve the reliability of the information recording medium 100. , or cannot all be stored in the disk management information area 104 when updating the disk management information or the like. In addition, the same applies to the temporary disk management information and the like recorded in the spare area and the like.

In the example shown in FIG. 1C, management of user data recorded on user data area 108 is performed by the file system. The space in which the file system performs management is called volume space 109 .

Multiple logical sectors are allocated to volume space. Each logical sector is identified by address information called a logical sector number (hereinafter referred to as LSN).

In the following description, as the volume/file structure constituting the file system, the descriptors, pointers, metadata partitions, metadata files, etc. recorded in the information recording medium 100 conform to the ISO/IEC13346 standard unless otherwise specified. Or the data structure specified by the UDF (Universal Disk Format) standard. Of course, other file systems may also be used.

In addition, the information recording medium 100 shown in FIG. 1A-FIG. 1C has been demonstrated as an information recording medium having one recording layer, but there is also an information recording medium having two or more recording layers.

FIG. 4 shows the data structure of an information recording medium 100b having two recording layers.

In FIG. 4 , L0 represents the first layer, and L1 represents the second layer. The first layer and the second layer each have basically the same structure as the information recording medium 100 . That is, the lead-in area 101 is provided on the innermost peripheral side of the first layer, and the lead-out area 103a is provided on the innermost peripheral side of the second layer. Furthermore, an outer peripheral region 103b is provided on the outermost periphery of the first layer, and an outer peripheral region 103c is provided on the outermost periphery of the second layer. The lead-in area 101, outer peripheral area 103b, lead-out area 104a, and outer peripheral area 103c include disc management information areas 104, 105, 104a, and 105a, respectively.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 4, alternate regions 106, 106a, 107, 107a are provided. As described above, the capacity of each alternate area can be changed for each information recording medium. In addition, an additional temporary disk management information area may be provided in each alternate area. In addition, the user data areas 108 and 108a are treated as logically one volume space having consecutive logical addresses.

Through the above, an information recording medium having a plurality of recording layers can be treated as an information recording medium logically having one recording layer. Next, an information recording medium having one recording layer will be described, but these descriptions can also be applied to an information recording medium having a plurality of recording layers. Therefore, an information recording medium having a plurality of recording layers will be appropriately described only when special explanation is required.

1-2. Simulate rewriting records

Next, alternate information will be described with reference to FIGS. 5A and 5B.

The so-called alternate information refers to an alternate management information list (or defect list) that includes alternate management information (or defect list entries), and the alternate management information includes: alternate information indicating the position of a cluster (defective cluster) that has a defect on the information recording medium. source position information, and replacement destination position information indicating the position of a replacement cluster to replace the defective cluster.

In addition, the present invention can record substitute clusters in the user data area.

Also, the present invention uses alternate information to realize pseudo-overwrite recording in a write-once type information recording medium.

As shown in FIG. 1B , the data area 102 includes an inner alternate area 106 , a user data area 108 and an outer alternate area 107 .

At least a part of the inner alternate area 106 and the outer alternate area 107 is used as an area for performing data replacement recording recorded on the user data area 108 .

For example, when there is a defective cluster in the user data area 108, at least a part of the inner alternate area 106 and the outer alternate area 107 is used as an area for recording a replacement cluster in which the defective cluster is alternated.

Alternatively, at least a part of the inner spare area 106 and the outer spare area 107 is used as an area for recording updated data in pseudo-overwrite recording described later.

Alternate recording combining alternate information and alternate areas is carried out together with verification processing.

The verification process is a process of reproducing the data after recording the data, comparing the recorded data and the reproduced data, and checking whether the data has been recorded correctly. This series of processing is called verify after write processing.

When an error occurs during the verification process, that is, when data is not recorded correctly, alternate recording is performed. That is, defective clusters are replaced with replacement clusters, and data is recorded in the replacement clusters.

This substitute cluster is recorded in the inner spare area 106 (or the outer spare area 107 ) or the user data area 108 .

The so-called pseudo-overwrite recording is a method of mapping a physical address where data is actually recorded to another location without changing the apparent logical address where data is recorded.

And, when the rewriting of data is instructed to the recorded logical address, before the rewriting, new data is recorded in the ECC cluster on the physical address other than the physical address where the data is recorded, and execution Mapping between ECC clusters before rewriting and replacement clusters in which new data is recorded.

The substitute cluster in the pseudo-overwrite recording is recorded in the spare area or the user data area.

As the replacement information for performing such mapping, the replacement management information list 1000 shown in FIG. 5A is used.

With such mapping processing, it is possible to realize a state in which data is not actually rewritten, but rewriting of data can be simulated. Hereinafter, this recording method is referred to as pseudo-overwrite recording.

FIG. 5A shows the data structure of a replacement management information list 1000 as replacement information of the present invention. The replacement management information list 1000 is used to perform mapping of the positions of defective clusters and replacement clusters. The replacement management information list 1000 includes title information 1001 and a plurality of replacement management information 1010 (alternation management information #1, #2, #3, . . . ).

The header information 1001 includes the number of replacement management information included in the replacement management information list 1000 . The replacement management information includes information indicating the above-mentioned mapping.

FIG. 5B shows the data structure of the replacement management information 1010. As shown in FIG. The replacement management information 1010 includes status information 1011 , replacement source location information 1012 , and replacement destination location information 1013 .

Status information 1011 includes status information related to the above-mentioned mapping. For example, it indicates the type or attribute of the replacement management information 1010, the valid and invalid states of the replacement source position information 1012 and the replacement destination position information 1013, and the like.

The replacement source location information 1012 indicates the location of replacement source information (for example, a defect cluster).

Replacement destination position information 1013 indicates the position of replacement destination information (for example, a replacement cluster).

Also, in the case of pseudo-overwrite recording, mapping is performed by indicating the position of the ECC cluster before rewriting by the replacement source position information 1012 and indicating the position of the ECC cluster after rewriting by the replacement destination position information 1013 .

Here, as the replacement source position information 1012 and the replacement destination position information 1013 registered in the replacement management information 1010, the physical address (for example, PSN) of the head sector of the corresponding ECC cluster may be used. This is because mapping is performed in units of ECC clusters in defect management and pseudo-overwrite recording.

In existing linear replacement (replacement), substitute clusters are recorded in alternate areas. Thus, the position information of the ECC cluster in the replacement area is always set in the replacement destination position information 1013 .

On the other hand, in the present invention, the substitute cluster is not limited to the spare area, and may be recorded in the user data area. Therefore, information indicating the position of the ECC cluster in the replacement area or information indicating the position of the ECC cluster in the user data area may be set in the replacement destination position information 1013 .

In addition, the replacement destination location information 1013 may indicate an ECC cluster recorded in one of the two areas, so in order to judge whether the replacement destination location information 1013 indicates an ECC cluster in the replacement area or whether the replacement destination location information 1013 indicates a user data area The ECC cluster within the state information 1011 is set to its judgment information.

1-3. Recording and reproducing device

FIG. 6 shows the configuration of an information recording and reproducing device 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The information recording and reproducing device 300 includes a host device 305 and a drive device 310 .

The host device 305 can be, for example, a computer system or computer.

The drive device 310 may be one of a recording device, a reproducing device, and a recording and reproducing device. The information recording and reproducing device 300 as a whole may also be referred to as a recording device, a reproducing device, or a recording and reproducing device.

The host device 305 includes a system control unit 301 and a memory circuit 302 . The host device 305 may also include a magnetic disk device 304 such as a hard disk drive. The components in the host device 305 are connected to each other via the I/O bus 303 .

The system control unit 301 is realized by, for example, a system control program or a microprocessor including a memory for calculation. The system control unit 301 performs control of processes such as recording and playback of volume structure/file structure of the file system, recording and playback of metadata partition/file structure described later, recording and playback of files, recording and playback of lead-in/lead-out areas, etc. OR operation.

The memory circuit 302 is used for volume structure, file structure, metadata partition/file structure, operation and temporary storage of files, and the like.

The drive device 310 includes a drive control unit 311 , a memory circuit 312 and a recording and reproducing unit 314 . The components in the drive device 310 are connected to each other via an internal bus 313 .

The drive control unit 311 is realized by, for example, a control program of a drive or a microprocessor including a memory for calculation. The drive control unit 311 executes control or calculation of processes such as recording, reproduction, pseudo-overwrite recording, and reproduction in the disc management information area or spare area.

The system control unit 301 or the drive control unit 311 shown in FIG. 6 can also be realized by a semiconductor integrated circuit such as LSI, or by a general-purpose processor and a memory (eg, ROM).

A program executable by a computer (eg, a general-purpose processor) is stored in a memory (eg, ROM). This program represents the playback processing and recording processing of the present invention described above and later, and a computer (for example, a general-purpose processor) executes the playback processing and recording processing of the present invention according to the program.

The memory circuit 312 is used for computation, temporary storage, and the like of data related to the disk management information area or the spare area, and data transferred to the drive device 310 .

1-4. Record processing steps (1)

Next, referring to FIG. 7 , the data structure on the information recording medium 100 after the formatting process according to this embodiment will be described.

Track #1 401 , track #2 402 , and track #3 403 are assigned to the user data area 108 .

A volume space 109 is allocated to the user data area 108 . A volume configuration area 410 , a physical partition 420 , and a volume configuration area 411 are allocated in the volume space 109 .

The physical partition 420 includes a metadata partition 430 specified by UDF standard version 2.5 or later.

A metadata file 440 is recorded in the physical partition 420 . In the following description, for the sake of simplification, the description of the metadata mirror file as the copy of the metadata file 440 will be omitted, but it is of course possible to record the metadata mirror file.

In addition, a file entry (FE) indicating a recording position of a metadata file 440 in the physical partition 420 , that is, an FE (metadata file) 441 is recorded.

All the file structure information such as the FE indicating the recording position and capacity of the user data file and the directory file are arranged in the metadata partition 430 , that is, the metadata file 440 .

In FIG. 7 , only the root directory is recorded, and therefore, only the file set descriptor (FSD) 443 and FE (root) 442 are recorded in the metadata file 440 . In addition, in order to simplify the description of the directory file, it is included in each FE.

Also, let it be a state where no alternate recording is performed at this time. Empty area management in the metadata partition 430 can also be performed using a metadata bitmap (not shown) as specified in the UDF standard version 2.5.

Alternatively, the empty area of the metadata partition 430 may remain unrecorded, and the management of the empty area in the metadata partition 430 may be performed using the LRA 405 of track #1.

The method of allocating tracks is not limited to that shown in FIG. 7 , and more tracks may be allocated, for example. In addition, the last track in the user data area is in a state where a new track can be added, and a track can be added when necessary.

Next, the data recording procedure in the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 8A.

Here, it is assumed that the data file (File-a) is recorded on the information recording medium 100 .

In addition, a plurality of logical addresses and a plurality of physical addresses are allocated to the user data area 108 of the information recording medium 100, and the correspondence relationship between the plurality of logical addresses and the plurality of physical addresses is determined in advance.

The plurality of logical addresses are represented by, for example, Logical Sector Number (LSN) or Logical Block Address (LBA), respectively.

The plurality of physical addresses are respectively represented by, for example, a physical sector number (PSN) or a physical block address (PBA). In addition, it is assumed that at least one track is allocated to the user data area 108 .

(Step S101 ) Before recording the data file (File-a), the drive control unit 311 executes a preparation process for data recording. This data recording preparation process is executed when the information recording medium 100 is loaded on the drive device 310, for example.

For example, the drive control unit 311 reads the latest disc management information from the disc management information area 104 (or the disc management information area 105 ) of the information recording medium 100 .

In order to determine the initial logical address-physical address mapping representing the correspondence between a plurality of logical addresses assigned to the user data area 108 and a plurality of physical addresses based on the disk management information, the user data area start position information 1103, user data area 1103, and user data area in FIG. Data area terminal position information 1104, replacement area information 1105, and the like.

Thereafter, the drive control unit 311 performs conversion between the logical address and the initial physical address based on the initial logical address-physical address mapping.

In addition, the drive control unit 311 acquires track management information included in the disc management information.

(Step S102 ) The drive control unit 311 receives a recording instruction from the host device 305 . The record indication contains a logical address indicating a location where data should be recorded. The logical address is represented by, for example, a logical sector number (LSN) or a logical block address (LBA). The recording instruction may include a single logical address indicating a location where a single data should be recorded, or a plurality of logical addresses indicating a plurality of locations where a plurality of data should be recorded respectively.

The logical address included in the recording instruction is determined by the host device 305, for example, based on a logical address (ie, a logical NWA) indicating a position within a specific track where data can then be recorded.

Logical NWA is output from drive device 310 to host device 305 , for example in response to a request from host device 305 to drive device 310 .

The logical NWA is obtained by transforming the NWA determined according to the above (Equation 1) according to the initial logical address-physical address mapping. This conversion is performed by the drive control unit 311 . The steps for determining NWA and logical NWA will be described in detail in Embodiment 2 described later.

The system control unit 301 of the host device 305 executes creation or update of necessary file system information after recording the data file (File-a). For example, the system control unit 301 executes generation of FE (File-a) for the data file (File-a) on the memory circuit 302 or updates the root directory which is the parent directory of the data file (File-a).

By outputting a recording instruction from the host device 305 to the drive device 310, the FE (File-a) of the data file (File-a) generated as described above or the updated root directory is recorded in the information recording medium 100 and reflected. Up-to-date file system information.

In addition, the host device 305 inquires of the drive device 310 whether or not there is an unrecorded area for performing alternate recording, etc., using a predetermined command as necessary.

In addition, the instructions output from the host device 305 to the drive device 310 may be standardized commands such as SCSI multimedia commands.

For example, the request or recording instruction of the logical NWA may also be a read track information (READ TRACK INFORMATION) instruction or a write (WRITE) instruction, respectively.

(Step S103 ) The drive control unit 311 converts the logical address included in the recording instruction received in step S102 into a physical address based on the initial logical address-physical address mapping.

(Step S104) The drive control unit 311 determines, based on the physical address corresponding to the logical address included in the recording instruction and the track management information 210 (FIG. 2B) included in the disc management information, that in at least one track allocated to the user data area 108, A track (open track) of .

Based on the LRA 213 of the specified track, the drive control unit 311 specifies a physical address (that is, NWA) indicating a position within the specified track where data can be recorded next. This NWA is, for example, the next recordable address determined from the above (Formula 1).

In addition, the determination of NWA may be performed in step S104, but may also be performed in other steps. For example, it may be performed in advance in the preparation process for the above-mentioned data recording.

Here, by using the LRA213 to calculate the NWA, the data structure of the orbit management information can be simplified without storing the information of the NWA in the orbit management information.

(Step S105) The drive control section 311 determines whether or not the physical address corresponding to the logical address included in the recording instruction is smaller than the NWA.

When it is determined that the physical address corresponding to the logical address included in the recording instruction is smaller than the NWA, the recording instruction is specified as a recording instruction to the recorded area in the user data area 108 . That is, the data record determined to be the record indication is a pseudo-overwrite record. At this time, the process advances to step S106. Otherwise, the process advances to step S108.

(Step S106) The drive control unit 311 specifies data to be recorded. When the data recording unit on the information recording medium 100 is an ECC cluster, the drive control unit 311 specifies the data designated by the recording instruction as the data to be recorded. For example, when the recording position and capacity of the data specified by the recording instruction coincide with the ECC cluster boundary, the entire ECC cluster is rewritten, so the data itself specified by the recording instruction is determined as the data to be recorded.

If they do not match, the drive control unit 311 executes read, change, and write processes described later. At this time, the drive control unit 311 specifies the data in units of ECC clusters obtained during the read, change, and write processes as data to be recorded.

(Step S107) The drive control unit 311 determines the recording position of the data to be recorded determined in Step S106. Specifically, the drive control unit 311 specifies a specific position other than the position indicated by the physical address corresponding to the logical address included in the recording instruction, that is, a specific position in the user data area 108, as the data to be recorded determined in step S106. Record location.

Here, the specific position may also be the NWA within the track determined in step S104.

Alternatively, the specific position may also be an NWA in an open track different from the track determined in step S104. At this time, the NWA within the open track preferably indicates the position closest to the position indicated by the physical address corresponding to the logical address included in the recording instruction.

(Step S108) The drive control section 311 determines whether the physical address corresponding to the logical address contained in the recording instruction is equal to NWA. When it is determined that the physical address corresponding to the logical address included in the recording instruction is equal to NWA, the recording instruction is determined to be a recording instruction for the location indicated by NWA. That is, the data recording specified as the recording instruction is overwriting (new recording). At this time, the process advances to step S109. Otherwise, the process proceeds to step S111.

(Step S109) The drive control unit 311 specifies data to be recorded. Specifically, the drive control unit 311 specifies the data designated by the recording instruction as the data to be recorded.

At this time, the drive control unit 311 judges whether or not the end of the data designated by the recording instruction coincides with the ECC cluster boundary. In the case of inconsistency, padding data (for example, data of all 00h) is inserted so that the end of the data coincides with the ECC cluster boundary, and is determined as data to be recorded.

(Step S110) The drive control unit 311 determines the recording position of the data to be recorded determined in Step S109. Specifically, the drive control unit 311 specifies the position indicated by the physical address corresponding to the logical address included in the recording instruction (that is, the position indicated by NWA) as the recording position of the data specified in step S109.

(Step S111) The drive control unit 311 executes error processing.

(Step S112 ) The drive control unit 311 executes the recording process to the specified recording position.

When the determination in step S105 is YES, the drive control unit 311 controls the recording/reproducing unit 314 so as to record the data to be recorded determined in step S106 at the recording position determined in step S107.

When the determination in step S108 is YES, the drive control unit 311 controls the recording/reproducing unit 314 so as to record the data to be recorded determined in step S109 at the recording position determined in step S110.

Also, the drive control section 311 determines whether or not the recording of the data was successful by performing a verification process on the recorded data. When the recording of the data has succeeded, the process proceeds to step S113.

If recording of the data fails, an unrecorded area in any of the spare areas such as the inner spare area 106 and the user data area 108 is allocated as a substitute cluster, and data is recorded in the substitute cluster.

After the recording of this data finally succeeds, the process proceeds to step S113.

The above-mentioned processing of step S106 and step S112 can also be realized by read, modify, write processing (hereinafter referred to as RWM processing).

In the RMW processing, first, the drive control unit 311 controls the recording and reproducing unit 314 to reproduce data recorded in an ECC cluster including a location indicated by a physical address corresponding to a logical address included in the recording instruction. data reproduced from the ECC cluster is stored in the memory circuit 312 (read processing).

At the time of execution of this reproduction process, the ECC cluster of the reproduction destination can be alternately recorded. Therefore, the drive control unit 311 controls the recording and reproducing unit 314 to refer to the replacement management information list 1000 and reproduce the data recorded in the ECC cluster of the replacement destination as necessary. The data reproduction procedure referring to the replacement management information list 1000 will be described later.

Next, the drive control unit 311 replaces the data recorded in the physical sector at the position indicated by the physical address corresponding to the logical address included in the recording instruction, among the data reproduced from the ECC cluster, with the data indicated by the recording instruction. Specified data (change processing). As a result, data of the updated ECC cluster is obtained.

The drive control unit 311 executes read processing and modification processing in step S106.

FIG. 8B shows the steps performed when the read processing and the modification processing are executed in step S106 shown in FIG. 8A. Each step shown in FIG. 8B is executed by the drive control unit 311 of the drive device 310 .

(Step S151) The drive control section 311 determines whether or not the ECC cluster including the position specified by the recording instruction has been alternated as a replacement cluster. This determination is performed, for example, by retrieving the alternation management information list 1000 .

When the replacement management information 1010 indicating the location specified by the recording instruction as the replacement source is found, it is determined that the replacement cluster has been replaced, and the process proceeds to step S152A. Otherwise, the process advances to step S152B.

The determination result of step S151 may also be held as an internal variable value, and when necessary in other steps, by referring to the value of the internal variable, it is determined whether the ECC cluster including the position specified by the recording instruction has been replaced as a replacement cluster. Thus, repeated execution of the same processing can be avoided. For example, if the determination result of step S151 is 'Yes', hold "1" as the value of the internal variable, and if the determination result of step S151 is 'No', hold "0" as the value of the internal variable the value of the variable.

(Step S152A) The drive control section 311 determines whether RMW processing is necessary. For example, when the data position and size specified by the recording instruction coincide with the ECC cluster boundary, the drive control unit 311 determines that RWM processing is not required; when the data position and size specified by the recording instruction do not coincide with the ECC cluster boundary , the drive control unit 311 determines that RWM processing is necessary.

In a case where it is determined that RMW processing is necessary, the process proceeds to step S153, otherwise, the process proceeds to step S157.

Like step S151, the determination result of step S152A may also be kept as an internal variable value, and when necessary in other steps, refer to the value of this internal variable to determine whether RMW processing is necessary.

(Step S152B) The drive control section 311 determines whether RMW processing is necessary. The processing of step S152B is the same as the processing of step S152A.

In a case where it is determined that RMW processing is necessary, the process proceeds to step S154, otherwise, the process proceeds to step S157.

(Step S153) The drive control section 311 controls the recording reproduction section 314 to replace the ECC cluster containing the position specified by the recording instruction, reproduce the data recorded in the replacement cluster shown in the replacement management information 1010 found in step S151, and reproduce The data of is stored in the memory circuit 312.

(Step S154 ) The drive control unit 311 controls the recording and reproducing unit 314 to reproduce the data recorded in the ECC cluster including the position specified by the recording instruction, and store the reproduced data in the memory circuit 312 .

(Step S155) The drive control unit 311 replaces the reproduced data with the data designated by the recording instruction, thereby generating corrected data.

(Step S156 ) The drive control unit 311 specifies the corrected data as data to be recorded on the information recording medium 100 .

(Step S157 ) The drive control unit 311 specifies the data designated by the recording instruction as the data to be recorded on the information recording medium 100 .

As described above, read processing and change processing are completed.

Third, the drive control unit 311 controls the recording/reproducing unit 314 so that the data of the updated ECC cluster obtained in the modification process is recorded in the position of the first ECC cluster (writing process). The drive control unit 311 performs writing processing in step S112.

However, in the present invention, since the information recording medium is a write-once medium, it cannot actually be recorded at the position of the first ECC cluster.

Here, an unrecorded area in any one of the spare area such as the inner spare area 106 and the user data area 108 is allocated as a substitute cluster, and updated data is recorded in the substitute cluster.

Also, the drive control unit 311 determines whether or not the recording of the data has been successful by performing verification processing on the recorded data. When the recording of the data has succeeded, the process proceeds to step S113.

If data recording fails, an unrecorded area in any of the spare areas such as the inner spare area 106 and the user data area 108 is assigned as yet another replacement cluster, and data is recorded in the further replacement cluster.

After the recording of this data finally succeeds, the process proceeds to step S113.

When the area designated by the recording instruction corresponds to the entire ECC cluster, since the entire ECC cluster is rewritten, the above-mentioned read processing is unnecessary.

(Step S113 ) The drive control unit 311 generates the replacement management information 1010 corresponding to the processing of the step S112 , and stores the replacement management information in the memory circuit 312 . For example, in step S112, the drive control unit 311 controls the recording and reproducing unit 314 to record data in a specific location other than the location indicated by the physical address corresponding to the logical address contained in the recording instruction, that is, the user data area 108. When it is at a specific position in the recording instruction, the drive control unit 311 generates alternate management information 1010 that maps the physical address corresponding to the logical address included in the recording instruction to the physical address indicating the specific position.

It is also possible to determine whether the replacement management information 1010 is found in the existing replacement management information list 1000 by retrieving the existing replacement management information list 1000. Alternate source location information 1012 with the same physical address.

If found, the drive control unit 311 updates the replacement management information 1010 so as to set the physical address indicating the specific position as the new replacement destination position information 1013 .

If not found, the drive control unit 311 generates new replacement management information 1010 and adds the new replacement management information 1010 to the replacement management information list 1000 .

Next, the drive control unit 311 rearranges the replacement management information list 1000 . For example, the drive control unit 311 may rearrange the replacement management information list 1000 for the status information 1011 and then rearrange the replacement management information list 1000 for the physical address of the replacement source location information 1012 .

In this way, a new replacement management information list 1000 including replacement management information 1010 that maps the physical address corresponding to the logical address included in the recording instruction to the physical address indicating the specific position is generated.

(Step S114) The drive control unit 311 updates the disk management information to reflect the recording operation described above. For example, the drive control unit 311 updates the last data recording location information 1107 . In addition, the drive control unit 311 updates the LRA 213 in the track management information 210 corresponding to the track on which the data is recorded to reflect the latest recording status.

Then, the drive control unit 311 generates new disk management information including updated information such as the new replacement management information list 1000 and the track management information 210 . In addition, in order to indicate the latest recording position of the new alternate management information list 1000 or the track management information 210 on the information recording medium 100, the alternate management information list position information 1102 or the session management information position information included in the new disc management information is set. Information 1109.

The drive control unit 311 controls the recording/reproducing unit 314 to record new disc management information in a predetermined area (for example, a temporary disc management information area) on the information recording medium 100 . In this way, the disk management information is updated to the latest state.

In addition, after data recording is completed, the drive device 310 may notify the host device 305 of the result of the recording operation. The result of the recording operation is, for example, information indicating success or failure of data recording.

Such a notification is sent to the host device 305 at a predetermined timing. For example, such a notification may be sent to the host device 305 at the end of step S108 or when an error occurs in step S112. Alternatively, such a notification may be sent to the host device 305 before the data recording actually ends. For example, the drive device 310 may receive a recording instruction from the host device 305, and may transmit a notification indicating completion of recording to the host device 305 when the recording instruction can be correctly interpreted.

In addition, in the alternate recording process described above, an unrecorded area may be searched from the position of the ECC cluster of the alternate source in a direction in which the PSN becomes larger. In such a search, if an unrecorded area is found, the unrecorded area is assigned as a replacement cluster.

In addition, it is also possible to first search for an unrecorded area in a track including an alternate source cluster, and then sequentially search for an unrecorded area in each track from this track in a direction in which the PSN becomes larger.

When no unrecorded area is found yet and the search for the unrecorded area reaches the end of the user data area 108 , the unrecorded area may be searched for in the area succeeding the user data area 108 , that is, the peripheral spare area 107 .

And, when the unrecorded area has not been found yet and the retrieval of the unrecorded area reaches the end of the spare area 107, it is also possible to start from a predetermined position on the inner peripheral side of the information recording medium 100 (for example, the beginning of the inner peripheral alternate area 106, the user data area 108, etc.). from the beginning of , or a predetermined distance away from these beginnings), the PSN becomes larger and the unrecorded area is searched.

In step S105 and step S108 of the data recording step, by comparing the physical address corresponding to the logical address contained in the recording instruction with the NWA, it is determined whether the data recording is a simulated overwrite recording or a post-write.

This comparison process can be used to determine whether the data recording is a pseudo-overwrite recording or post-writing because the information recording medium 100 is a write-once information recording medium and sequential recording is performed on the write-once information recording medium.

The alternate recording using the user data area described in the present invention can also be applied to rewritable optical discs. However, in the case of a rewritable optical disc, more complicated processing steps are required to determine whether the data recording is a rewrite recording or a rewriting (or new recording). This is because, in the case of a rewritable optical disc, arbitrary locations on the optical disc can be rewritten randomly.

As in the above-mentioned embodiments, if the drive device executes free area management on the rewritable optical disc, as described in the background art, for example, SDL must be used to manage the replacement management information corresponding to all ECC clusters on the rewritable optical disc. In addition, whether data is to be recorded in a certain place in the user data area on a certain rewritable optical disc is overwrite recording or new recording, for example, it is necessary to search all replacement management information lists 1000 and determine whether the recording has been completed. Also, in order to know whether a certain ECC cluster is not used as a substitute cluster, it is necessary to search all the replacement management information lists 1000 . The amount of such processing increases with the capacity of the replacement management information list 1000, which is a big problem for an optical disc whose capacity is increasing day by day.

On the other hand, in the present invention, since it is a write-once information recording medium and records sequentially, it is guaranteed that all areas with address values smaller than NWA have been recorded in a certain track.

Thus, with the comparison processing in steps S105 and S108, regardless of the capacity of the replacement management information list 1000, it is possible to easily determine whether the data recording is a pseudo-overwrite recording or overwriting. In addition, since the replacement cluster only needs to be selected from the position after the NWA, it can be easily selected.

In addition, the case of performing pseudo-overwrite recording in the random recording method of the write-once optical disc is the same as that of the rewritable optical disc.

In addition, in the case of the random recording method of the write-once optical disc, a special structure such as the above-mentioned free area management information 220 is required. Compared with the free area management of the sequential recording method, the processing load of the free area management information 220 of the random recording method on the drive control unit 311 is greatly increased.

Especially in the sequential recording method, the number of open tracks can be limited to an extent that does not impair the convenience of the file system (for example, a maximum of four).

At this time, the number of open tracks depends on the structure of the file system, and will not be affected even if the capacity of the optical disc increases. The load increases.

That is, for optical discs whose capacity is increasing day by day, the effect of the present invention in which the pseudo-overwriting method is performed in the sequential recording method is very large.

In addition, it is a feature of the invention to determine NWA based on LRA 213 included in the latest track management information 210 and (Equation 1) in order to determine whether to perform pseudo-overwrite recording or overwriting.

When the LRA 213 updated by data recording is recorded on the disk and the information recording medium 100 is loaded on the drive device 310, the time to find the latest LRA 213 is shortened.

By calculating the NWA using the LRA 213, the data structure of the orbit management information can be simplified without storing the information of the NWA in the orbit management information.

If it is not according to the present invention, in order to determine whether to simulate overwrite recording or overwrite, for example, the following steps are required.

That is, it is necessary to identify a track including a physical address corresponding to a logical address included in a recording instruction, search the ECC clusters sequentially from the head of the track, and determine whether or not recording has been made.

If the ECC cluster at the location indicated by the recording has been recorded, it is determined to be the simulated overwrite recording.

Such processing, especially when the capacity of the track increases, leads to an increase in the amount of processing, which is not preferable.

On the other hand, according to the present embodiment, regardless of the capacity of the track, it is possible to relatively easily determine whether to perform pseudo-overwrite recording or overwriting.

In addition, by including the LRA 213 in the track management information 210, when the drive 10 receives a recording instruction, the track of the recording destination can be specified, and the NWA can be easily specified.

FIG. 9 shows the data structure on the information recording medium 100 after the data file is recorded by this recording procedure.

In FIG. 9, the data file (File-a) 460 is demonstrated as an example of a data file. Assume that in the data file (File-a) 460, defective cluster #1 and defective cluster #2 are detected in the recording step.

Therefore, it is assumed that disk management information including replacement management information indicating replacement of defective cluster #1 with replacement cluster #1 and replacement management information indicating replacement of defective cluster #2 with replacement cluster #2 is recorded in the disk management information area 104. middle.

As shown in FIG. 9 , the replacement cluster #1 is recorded in the spare area 106 , and the replacement cluster #3 is recorded in the user data area 108 .

And, after the data file (File-a) 460 has executed this recording, it updates the content by using the simulated overwrite recording.

Specifically, the updated cluster #2 and the updated cluster #4 correspond to the updated section recorded by the simulated overwrite.

Assume that the new data updated by the simulated overwrite recording is recorded in the replacement cluster #2 and the replacement cluster #4 to which the update cluster #2 and the update cluster #4 are assigned as replacements, respectively, and the corresponding replacement information is recorded in the disk management information. in area 104.

As shown in FIG. 9 , the replacement cluster #2 is assigned to the spare area 106 , and the replacement cluster #4 is assigned to the user data area 108 .

1-5. Reproduction processing procedure (1)

File playback processing will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG. 10 . Here, the operation of reproducing the data file (File-a) 460 shown in FIG. 9 will be described as an example.

(Step S201 ) Before data reproduction, the drive control unit 311 executes preparation processing for data reproduction. Such data reproduction preparation processing is executed when the information recording medium 100 is loaded on the drive device 310, for example. For example, the drive control unit 311 reads the disk management information from the disk management information area 104 (or the disk management information area 105 ) of the information recording medium 100 .

The drive control unit 311 obtains the user data area start position information 1103, User data area terminal position information 1104, alternate area information 1105, and the like.

Thereafter, the drive control unit 311 performs conversion between the logical address and the initial physical address based on the initial logical address-physical address mapping.

(Step S202) First, the system control unit 301 issues a reproduction instruction to the drive device 310 to reproduce the AVDP recorded at a predetermined position (for example, LSN=256) on the information recording medium 100 .

In addition, AVDP is a data structure defined by the UDF standard and constitutes the starting point of file system information, and is recorded in the volume structure area 410 and the volume structure area 411 .

(Step S203 ) Next, the system control unit 301 acquires the location information of the main volume descriptor string 410A recorded in the volume structure area 410 from the AVDP. The system control unit 301 then instructs the drive device 310 to reproduce the main volume structure 410A.

The system control unit 301 further sequentially reads the data structure from the reproduced main volume descriptor string 410A, and acquires the location information (LSN) of the FE (metadata file) 411 .

(Step S204) Next, the system control unit 301 executes playback of the file structure. In order to reproduce the file structure, the system control unit 301 instructs the drive device 301 to reproduce the FE (metadata file) 411 based on the acquired location information (LSN) of the FE (metadata file) 441 .

Here, the system control unit 301 obtains the location information of the metadata file 440 based on the acquired information of the FE (metadata file) 441 and can access the metadata file 440 .

(step S205) afterward, utilize the reproducing step of common UDF standard, by the order of FSD433, FE (root) 442, FE (File-a) 443, data file (File-a) 460, carry out reproduction (omit description catalog file reproduction).

In each step of the playback process described above, a playback instruction is output from the host device 305 to the drive device 310 . The drive control unit 311 of the drive device 310 receives a playback instruction from the host device 305, and executes playback processing according to the playback instruction.

The reproduction instruction includes a logical address indicating a location where data should be reproduced. The logical address is represented by, for example, a logical sector number (LSN). Alternatively, the logical address may also be represented by a Logical Block Address (LBA). The playback instruction is, for example, a READ command.

The drive control unit 311 converts the logical address included in the playback instruction into a physical address based on the initial logical address-physical address mapping (see, for example, FIG. 12 ).

Next, the drive control section 311 determines whether, by retrieving the alternation management information list 1000, the alternation management information 1010 having the same physical address as the logical address included in the reproduction instruction is found in the alternation management information list 1000. Alternative source location information 1012 for .

If found, the drive control unit 311 refers to the replacement destination position information 1013 of the replacement management information 1010 , and controls the recording playback unit 314 to reproduce data from the position indicated by the replacement destination position information 1013 .

If not found, the drive control unit 311 controls the recording and reproducing unit 314 to start reproducing data from the position indicated by the physical address corresponding to the logical address included in the reproduction instruction. The data thus reproduced is returned to the host device 305 .

1-6. Record processing steps (2)

FIG. 11 shows the data structure of the replacement management information 1010B. The replacement management information 1010B represents a different embodiment of the replacement management information 1010 shown in FIG. 5B .

The replacement management information 1010B in FIG. 11 includes the following three pieces of information as status information 1011 . As shown in FIG. 11 , these three pieces of information are Flag1, Flag2, and Flag3.

Flag1 is information for classification of the replacement management information 1010B, and includes information indicating whether the replacement information is used for replacement recording or indicates a defective cluster.

Flag2 is information related to the recording position of the replacement cluster managed by the replacement management information 1010B, and includes information indicating whether it is in the replacement area or there is no replacement destination, or it is in the user data area.

Flag3 is information related to the number of clusters managed by the replacement management information 1010B, and includes information indicating that the replacement information corresponds to a single cluster or to a plurality of consecutive clusters. When corresponding to a plurality of continuous clusters, Flag3 further includes information indicating whether it corresponds to the start position or the end position of the continuous area.

Next, the detailed recording steps of the present invention will be described based on FIG. 11 .

Hereinafter, the types of the replacement management information will be indicated using symbols in the column at the right end of FIG. 11 as necessary. For example, replacement management information having status information 1011 such as Flag1=1 (for replacement), Flag2=0 (replacement to replacement area), and Flag3=00 (single cluster) in the first line is expressed as replacement management information (1).

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of the physical address space and the logical address space on the information recording medium 100 of the present invention.

In addition, FIG. 12 also shows the logical address representing the position on the information recording medium 100 when viewed from the host device 305, that is, the logical sector number (LSN), and the physical address representing the actual position on the information recording medium 100. , that is, the corresponding relationship of the physical sector number (PSN) in the initial state. This correspondence is referred to as an initial logical address-physical address mapping (indicated by dotted arrows in the figure. The same applies hereinafter).

One row shown in Fig. 12 corresponds to one ECC cluster. In FIG. 12, a physical address (PSN) and a logical address (LSN) assigned to the physical address are shown in the same row.

In FIG. 12 , the values of PSN and LSN are shown as the values of PSN and LSN from the head sector to the end sector of the corresponding ECC cluster.

Here, a case where one ECC cluster is composed of 32 sectors is taken as an example, but other configurations are also possible.

PSNs are assigned to the inner spare area 106 , the outer spare area 107 and the user data area 108 .

In addition, it is assumed that tracks are allocated from the beginning of the user data area 108 . In the state of FIG. 12 , since no data has been recorded at all, LRA 500 indicates the beginning of user data area 108 .

On the other hand, LSNs are allocated only to the user data area 108 (or volume space 109).

Using this LSN, the host device 305 designates a specific logical sector on the information recording medium 100 and instructs recording or reproduction.

The drive device 310 converts the LSN received from the host device 305 into a PSN according to the initial logical address-physical address mapping, and accesses a physical sector or an ECC cluster according to the obtained PSN.

In the replacement record described below, the replacement management information 1010 is used when a logical address-physical address mapping different from this correspondence relationship is required based on the initial logical address-physical address mapping.

The values of PSN and LSN in FIG. 12 are merely examples for explanation, and actual values vary depending on the configuration and capacity of the information recording medium 100 .

As described above, the disk management information and the capacity of the spare area are variable, but these capacities are determined at the time of formatting processing executed by an instruction from the host device 305 or the like. After the formatting process, the start and end positions of the user data area 108 do not change.

The initial logical address-physical address mapping can be based on the information contained in the disc structure information 1100 in the disc management information (specifically, user data area start position information 1103, user data area end position information 1104, alternate area information 1105, etc.), It is uniquely determined by a predetermined calculation or the like.

An example of use of the replacement management information 1010B shown in FIG. 11 will be described with reference to FIGS. 12 to 17B.

First, the transition from the state of FIG. 12 to the state of FIG. 13A will be described.

The host device 305 instructs to newly record data "A" at the position of LSN=0.

Drive device 310 having received the recording instruction converts LSN=0 to PSN=1100 according to the initial logical address-physical address mapping, and records data "A" at the position of PSN=1100.

After that, the drive device 310 checks the recorded data. Here it is assumed that the test is successful.

Furthermore, the host device 305 instructs to simulate overwriting the recording data "A1" at the position of LSN=0.

Drive device 310 having received the recording instruction converts LSN=0 to PSN=1100 based on the initial logical address-physical address mapping, and executes RMW processing at the position of PSN=1100. After that, data "A1" is recorded at the position of PSN=100 in the spare area 106 .

At this time, the replacement management information 511 is generated by the drive device 310 . PSN=1100 is set as the recording position of data “A” for the replacement source of the replacement management information 511, and PSN=100 is set as the recording position of data “A1” for the replacement destination of the replacement management information 511 . The state information 1011 of the replacement management information 511 is set according to FIG. 11 .

Alternation management information 511 corresponds to the solid-line arrows in FIG. 13A . The starting point of the arrow indicates an alternation source, and the end of the arrow indicates an alternation destination (the same applies hereinafter).

In FIG. 13A, the host device 305 also instructs to record data "B" at the position of LSN=2.

If the verification fails during the recording of the data "B", the data "B" is recorded at the position of PSN=132 in the inner peripheral alternate area 106 .

Alternate management information 512 is generated corresponding to the alternate record. PSN=1032 is set for the replacement source of the replacement management information 512 , and PSN=132 is set for the replacement destination of the replacement management information 512 . The status information 1011 of the replacement management information 512 is similarly set according to FIG. 11 .

The above recorded data configuration and alternate management information list are shown in Fig. 13A and Fig. 13B. The replacement management information (1) is used in the replacement management information list 1000A of FIG. 13B.

On the other hand, FIG. 14A and FIG. 14B are diagrams for explaining the state when the replacement management information (4), (7) is used.

Here, the host device 305 instructs to record data "C" at the location of LSN=64. According to the recording instruction, the drive device 310 records data "C" at the position of PSN=1164. Here, if the result of the check is an error, an unrecorded area (PSN=1196) in the user data area 108 is allocated, and data "C" is recorded instead at the position of PSN=1196.

Based on this result, replacement management information 513 is generated.

Then, the host device 305 instructs to record data "D" at the position of LSN=128, and then instructs to record data "D1".

If the verification after the data "D1" is recorded fails, the data "D1" is recorded instead at the position of PSN=1292.

At this time, replacement management information 514 is generated.

Also, PSN=1260 constitutes a defective cluster with no replacement destination, and corresponding replacement management information 515 is generated.

Furthermore, assuming that the host device 305 instructs the analog overwriting of the recording data "D2" at the position of LSN=128, the data "D2" is recorded instead at the position of PSN=1324.

At this time, replacement management information 514A is generated. On the other hand, since the replacement management information 514 is unnecessary, it is deleted from the replacement management information list 1000 .

After the above records are processed, the LRA is updated to the position of 500B.

In addition, the replacement management information list 1000B ( FIG. 14B ) performs rearrangement on Flag1 in the status information 1011 , and then performs rearrangement on the PSN values of the replacement source position information 1012 .

15A and 15B are state diagrams for explaining the use of replacement management information (5), (6).

Here, the host device 305 instructs to record data "E" at the position of LSN=256 to X1.

At this time, if the verification fails, the data "E" is recorded instead at the position of PSN=x2 to x3, and the replacement management information 516 and the replacement management information 517 are generated. Each piece of replacement management information indicates the head PSN of the ECC cluster corresponding to the start position of the alternative recording and the head PSN of the ECC cluster corresponding to the end position.

In FIGS. 16A and 16B , the host device 305 also instructs to simulate overwriting the recording data "E1" at the position of LSN=257 to X1.

At this time, data "E1" is recorded at the position of PSN=x4 to x5 which is an unrecorded area in FIG. 15A.

Thereafter, replacement management information 516A is generated as information indicating the start point of the replacement, and replacement management information 517A is generated as information indicating the end point of the alternative recording.

At this time, since the replacement management information 516, 517 is unnecessary, it is deleted from the replacement management information list.

In FIGS. 15A and 16A, it is assumed that all alternative recording destinations are within the user data area 108, but they may be within the spare area 106, of course. At this time, the replacement management information (2), (3) is used.

As described with reference to FIG. 8A, the updated replacement management information list is recorded in the disc management information area.

1-7. Reproduction processing procedure (2)

When reproducing data recorded in the above-described manner, the following processing is performed.

Before data reproduction, the drive control unit 311 executes preparation processing for data reproduction. The preparatory process for such data reproduction is, for example, the same as the above-mentioned step S201.

Also, for example, in the state of FIG. 13A , if host device 305 executes an instruction to play back data "B" with LSN=32, drive device 310 obtains PSN=1132 based on the initial logical address-physical address mapping.

The drive device 310 retrieves the replacement management information with PSN=1132 from the latest replacement management information list 1000 as the replacement source.

Here, since the replacement management information 512 is found, PSN=132 of the replacement destination is acquired therefrom.

The drive device 310 reproduces the data "B" according to PSN=132, and returns it to the host device 305 as reproduced data of LSN=32.

Even if the LSN specified by the host device 305 changes, the processing on the drive device 310 side is the same. According to the initial logical address-physical address mapping, the received LSN is converted into PSN, and if the corresponding replacement management information is found, the data is reproduced according to the replacement cluster. If no corresponding replacement management information is found, it is only necessary to perform playback according to the PSN as it is.

As described above, in the pseudo-overwrite recording of the information recording medium 100, the user data area can be used as an alternate destination without waste.

1-8. Record processing steps (3)

FIG. 18 shows a DFL entry 2010 , which is a different configuration example of the replacement management information similar to the replacement management information 1010 or the replacement management information 1010B described above.

The state 1 2011A and state 2 2011B, defective cluster head PSN 2012, and replacement cluster head PSN 2013 included in the DFL entry 2010 are the same as the above-mentioned state information 1011, replacement source location information 1012, and replacement source location information 1013, respectively.

Here, as described with reference to FIG. 5B , the defective cluster head PSN 2012 and the replacement cluster head PSN 2013 may also be represented by the physical address (for example, PSN) of the head sector of the corresponding ECC cluster. This is because mapping is performed in units of ECC clusters in defect management and pseudo-overwrite recording.

Here, the state 1 2011A includes at least the same information as Flag1 and Flag2 in the replacement management information 1010B. That is, for example, when the value of the status 12011A is "1000", the replacement information indicates that there is no replacement destination (corresponding to the case where Flag2=0 and no replacement destination). At this time, "0" is set in the substitute cluster head PSN 2013 .

On the other hand, when there is an alternate destination, "0000" is set in Status 1 (corresponding to Flag2 = 0, when there is an alternate destination).

Status 22011B includes at least the same information as Flag3 in replacement management information 1010B.

That is, for example, when the value of the state 2 2011B is "0000", this alternate information corresponds to a single cluster (equivalent to Flag3=00).

Similarly, when the value of Status 2 is, for example, "0001", this alternate information corresponds to the position of the head sector of the head cluster of a continuous area including a plurality of clusters (equivalent to Flag3=01). On the other hand, in the case of "0010", it corresponds to the position of the head sector of the end cluster of the continuous area including a plurality of clusters (corresponding to Flag3=10).

This DFL entry 2010 is applicable to all embodiments.

Next, referring to the data structure of the DFL entry 2010 shown in FIG. 18 and the flowchart of FIG. 19A, an example of the processing of the replacement management information in step S113 described above using FIG. 8A will be described in more detail.

Here, assume a case where recording to an alternate destination for pseudo-overwrite recording is performed in step S112 of FIG. 8A , and the process proceeds to step S113 .

(Step S301 ) First, it is determined whether the simulated overwrite record is the first overwrite record or the second or subsequent overwrite record.

It can be performed by searching, for example, the latest replacement management information list for the DFL entry 2010 having the head of the ECC cluster including the physical address corresponding to the logical address included in the recording instruction obtained in step S103 of FIG. 8A The PSN value is used as the value of PSN2012 at the beginning of the defect cluster.

This latest alternate management information list is reproduced from the disc management information area in step S101 ( FIG. 8A ), for example, and held in the memory circuit 312 .

When the replacement management information (for example, the DFL entry 2010) is not found in the replacement management information list, the process proceeds to step S302 as the first pseudo-overwrite recording.

If the replacement management information is found in the replacement management information list, it is regarded as the second pseudo-overwrite recording, and the process proceeds to step S304.

In addition, the determination of whether the simulated overwrite record is the first overwrite record or the second or subsequent overwrite record may be performed in advance in other steps. For example, it may also be performed in step S106. The judgment result at this time may also be kept and used in step S301.

(Step S302) In the case of the first alternate recording, the following processing is performed.

First, a new DFL entry 2010 is created on the memory circuit 312 of the drive device 310 by the drive control unit 311 .

(Step S303 ) Next, a value is set for the DFL entry 2010 .

That is, set an appropriate value for the state 1 2011A. For example, "0000" is set if there is an alternate record of the alternate destination.

Thereafter, for the defective cluster head PSN 2012, the value of the head PSN of the ECC cluster located at the physical address corresponding to the logical address included in the recording instruction is set.

Next, the value of the head PSN of the alternate cluster in which data was actually recorded in the previous alternate recording is set in the alternate cluster head PSN 2013 .

And, an appropriate value is set for the state 2 2011B of the DFL entry 2010. For example, in the case of alternate recording of a single cluster, "0000" is set.

(Step S304) In the case of alternate recording after the second time, the following processing is performed.

That is, in order to perform update processing on the DFL entry 2010 found in the previous step, the process proceeds to step S305.

(Step S305) First, update the state 1 2011A of the DFL entry 2010 to an appropriate value. For example, "0000" is set if there is an alternate record of the alternate destination.

Thereafter, the replacement cluster head PSN 2013 is updated to the value of the head PSN of the replacement cluster in which data was actually recorded in the previous alternate recording. That is, a new replacement destination is set.

As for the defective cluster head PSN2012, since it is the second and subsequent alternate recordings to the same ECC cluster, there is no need to change it, and it only needs to keep the same value.

And, update the state 2 2011B of the DFL entry 2010 to the appropriate value. For example, in the case of alternate recording of a single cluster, "0000" is set.

(Step S306) Through the above processing, the replacement management information list is updated. That is, a new DFL entry 2010 is added or the value of an existing DFL entry 2010 is updated.

Perform rearrangement of the alternate management information list. This rearrangement is performed on state 12011A, for example. And, perform rearrangement in the order of defect cluster head PSN 2012, state 2 2011B, replacement cluster head PSN 2013.

As mentioned above, step S113 in FIG. 8A is the end. The latest alternate management information list obtained here is overwritten in the (temporary) disc management information area.

In the above processing example, a case was described in which alternate recording for pseudo-overwrite recording was performed, but the same applies to alternate recording based on occurrence of defective clusters.

However, as explained with reference to FIG. 33A and FIG. 33B in the background art, in the defect management of the conventional write-once optical disk, whenever alternate recording occurs, the existing alternate management information remains and a new one is added. Alternate management information.

If this method is applied to the recording method using the user data area as an alternate destination as described in this embodiment, the alternate management information will increase every time alternate recording occurs, and the capacity of the alternate management information list will increase. Therefore, it is not ideal for installation of a driving device or the like.

In particular, in the defect management of conventional write-once optical discs, clusters that were once alternated are not alternated again, but when pseudo-overwrite recording is performed as shown in this embodiment, alternate recording can be performed multiple times. Object. Therefore, there is a possibility that the capacity of the alternate management information list becomes very large.

In addition, a plurality of replacement management information having the same defective cluster head PSN2012 value exists in the replacement management information list, and additional processing or configuration is required to obtain the latest replacement management information.

In defect management of a rewritable optical disc, replacement management information is set for all replacement destination clusters regardless of whether they have been used as replacement destinations or not.

If this method is applied to the method of using the user data area as the replacement destination described in this embodiment, a very large amount of replacement management information is required initially, which is still not ideal in terms of implementation.

On the other hand, according to the method using FIG. 19A , it is only necessary to generate and manage the minimum necessary defect management information, and it is also possible to easily find the latest replacement management information.

1-9. Record processing steps (4)

An example of the processing of the replacement management information in the data recording step will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 19B .

Each step shown in FIG. 19B is included in step S113 shown in FIG. 8A . In the following description, reference is made to the data structure of the DFL entry 2010 as an example of the replacement management information shown in FIG. 18 .

Here, assume a case where recording to an alternate destination for pseudo-overwrite recording is performed in step S112 of FIG. 8A , and proceeds to step S113 .

(Step S601) The drive control unit 311 determines whether the area specified by the recording instruction is a continuous area in the physical address space.

For example, the drive control unit 311 determines the size of the area on the physical address space based on the recording position designated by the recording instruction and the data volume to be recorded designated by the recording instruction. When the size of the area on the physical address space determined in this way is larger than the size of one ECC cluster, the drive control unit 311 determines that the area designated by the recording instruction is a continuous area in the physical address space.

When the determination result in step S601 is "Yes", the process proceeds to step S602. When the determination result in step S601 is "No", the process proceeds to step S603.

(Step S602) The drive control section 311 determines whether the area in which data is actually recorded in step S112 is a continuous area in the physical address space.

For example, when the size of the area subjected to the recording process in step S112 is equal to the size of the area designated by the recording instruction, the drive control unit 311 determines that the area in which data is actually recorded in step S112 is a continuous area in the physical address space.

In a case where the determination result in step S602 is "Yes", the process proceeds to step S604. In a case where the determination result in step S602 is "No", the process proceeds to step S603.

(Step S603 ) The drive control unit 311 executes, for example, the processing described with reference to FIG. 19A .

(Step S604) The drive control unit 311 determines whether the pseudo-overwrite recording is the first overwrite recording or the second or subsequent overwrite recording.

For example, by checking the latest replacement management information list, the above is performed according to whether the first DFL entry 2010 (state 2 2011B="0001") and the second DFL entry 2010 (state 2 2011B="0010") are found in the replacement management information list It is determined that the first DFL entry 2010 has the alternate source position information indicating the same area as the continuous area determined in step S601.

When the first DFL entry 2010 and the second DFL entry 2010 are not found in the replacement management information list, the processing proceeds to step S605 as the first pseudo-overwrite recording.

When the first DFL entry 2010 and the second DFL entry 2010 are found in the replacement management information list, the processing proceeds to step S607 as the second pseudo-overwrite recording.

(Step S605 ) The drive control unit 311 generates a new first DFL entry 2010 and a new second DFL entry 2010 , and stores them in the memory circuit 312 .

(Step S606 ) The drive control unit 311 sets values in the first and second DFL entries 2010 .

In the state 1 2011A of the first DFL entry 2010, "0000" indicating that there is an alternate record of the alternate destination is set.

In the defective cluster head PSN 2012 of the first DFL entry 2010, the value of the head PSN of the ECC cluster including the start position of the area specified by the recording instruction is set.

In the alternate cluster head PSN 2013 of the first DFL entry 2010, the value of the head PSN of the ECC cluster including the start position of the continuous area in which data is actually recorded is set.

In the state 2 2011B of the first DFL entry 2010, "0001" indicating the start position of the continuous area is set.

In the state 1 2011A of the second DFL entry 2010, "0000" indicating that there is an alternate record of the alternate destination is set.

In the defective cluster head PSN 2012 of the second DFL entry 2010, the value of the head PSN of the ECC cluster including the end position of the area specified by the recording instruction is set. For example, the end position of the area designated by the recording instruction is obtained from the physical address corresponding to the logical address included in the recording instruction and the data length of the data to be recorded.

In the alternate cluster head PSN 2013 of the second DFL entry 2010, the value of the head PSN of the ECC cluster including the end position of the continuous area in which data is actually recorded is set.

In the state 2 2011B of the second DFL entry 2010, "0010" indicating the end position of the continuous area is set.

(Step S607) The drive control unit 311 performs update processing on the first and second DFL entries 2010 found in step S604. Specifically, this update process is executed by setting values in the first and second DFL entries 2010 in step 608 .

(Step S608 ) The drive control unit 311 sets values in the first and second DFL entries 2010 .

In the alternate cluster head PSN 2013 of the first DFL entry 2010, the value of the head PSN of the ECC cluster including the start position of the continuous area in which data is actually recorded is set. That is, the start position of a new replacement destination area is set.

The defective cluster head PSN 2012 of the first DFL entry 2010 does not need to be changed, and only needs to keep the same value. This is because it is the second and subsequent alternate recordings to the same ECC cluster.

In the alternate cluster head PSN 2013 of the second DFL entry 2010, the value of the head PSN of the ECC cluster including the end position of the continuous area in which data is actually recorded is set. That is, the end position of a new replacement destination area is set.

The defective cluster head PSN 2012 of the 2nd DFL entry 2010 does not need to be changed, and only needs to keep the same value. This is because it is the second and subsequent alternate recordings to the same ECC cluster.

(Step S609) Through the above processing, the update of the replacement management information list is executed. That is, new first and second DFL entries 2010 are added to the replacement management information list. Alternatively, the values of the existing first and second DFL entries 2010 in the replacement management information list are updated.

Perform rearrangement of the alternate management information list. This rearrangement is performed, for example, in the order of updating the status 1 2011A of the management information. And, the rearrangement is performed in the order of defect cluster head PSN 2012, state 2 2011B, alternate cluster head PSN 2013.

As described above, step S113 of FIG. 8A is the end. The latest alternate management information list obtained here is overwritten in the (temporary) disc management information area.

In addition, in the above processing example, a case where alternate recording for pseudo-overwrite recording is performed is described, but this can also be applied similarly to alternate recording based on occurrence of a defective cluster.

The recording processing procedure will be further described with reference to FIGS. 20A to 24B.

FIG. 20A shows the physical address space and logical address space on the information recording medium 100, similarly to FIG. 13A and the like. In FIG. 20A, there is shown a state where data "A0" is recorded at the position of LSN=0 after the formatting process. In the physical address space, data "A0" is recorded at the position of PSN=1000.

At this time, LSN=0 and PSN=1000 maintain the initial logical address-physical address mapping relationship.

Therefore, the replacement management information list shown in FIG. 20B corresponding to FIG. 20A does not include replacement management information, but includes only header information 1001 .

Next, assume that in the state of FIG. 20A, the host device 305 instructs to record data "A1" at the position of LSN=0. FIG. 21A shows the state after this recording is performed.

As shown in FIG. 21A, since the position of PSN=1000 has already been recorded, the data "A1" is alternated to the position of PSN=1132 in the user data area, for example.

Since the alternate recording at this time is the first alternate recording, the DFL entry 2100A shown in FIG. 21B is added to the alternate management information list according to steps after step S302 described with reference to FIG. 19A .

Thereafter, in the state of FIG. 21A , the host device 305 instructs to record data "A2" at the position of LSN=0. FIG. 22A shows the state after this recording is performed.

As shown in FIG. 22A, since PSN=1000 has already been recorded, data "A2" is alternated to, for example, the position of PSN=1164 in the user data area.

Since the alternate recording at this time is the second alternate recording, the DFL entry 2100A is updated to form the DFL entry 2100B as shown in FIG. 22B according to steps after step S304 described with reference to FIG. 19A . (i.e. no DFL entries are appended.)

Next, assuming the state of FIG. 22A, the host device 305 instructs to record data "B0" at the location of LSN=96, and to record data "C0" at the location of LSN=128-192. FIG. 23A shows the state after this recording is performed.

As shown in FIG. 23A, it is assumed that when the data "B0" is recorded at the position of PSN=1196, the verification process is an error.

At this time, the data "B0" is alternated to PSN=x10 in the outer peripheral alternate area 107, for example.

Since the alternate recording at this time is the first alternate recording, the DFL entry 2101A is added as shown in FIG. 23B according to steps after step S302 described with reference to FIG. 19A .

On the other hand, if the verification after the data "C0" is recorded succeeds, the replacement management information list does not change.

Next, assume that in the state of FIG. 23A, the host device 305 instructs to record data "C1" at the location of LSN=128-192. FIG. 24A shows the state after this recording is performed.

As shown in FIG. 24A, since the positions of PSN=1228-1292 have already been recorded, the data "C1" is alternated to, for example, the positions of PSN=1324-1388 in the user data area.

Since the alternate recording at this time is the first alternate recording, DFL entries 2102A and 2103A are added as shown in FIG. 24B according to steps after step S302 described with reference to FIG. 19A .

Here, since this alternate recording is an alternate recording from the continuous area 2200 (PSN=1228-1292) to the consecutive area 2201 (PSN=1324-1388), as described above, the DFL entry 2102A indicating the beginning of the alternate area, and DFL entry 2103A representing the end location.

That is, the drive device 310 of the present invention generates a first alternate region in which the start position of the continuous area 2200 is mapped to the start position of the continuous area 2201 in the simulated overwrite of alternating the continuous area 2200 with the continuous area 2201 in the user data area 108. management information (DFL entry 2102A), and second replacement management information (DFL entry 2103A) for mapping the end position of the contiguous area 2200 to the end position of the contiguous area 2201 .

Here, only two DFL entries are appended although alternate recording of consecutive areas of the size of 3 ECC clusters is performed. This is an effect obtained by mapping alternate destinations in the user area as continuous areas using the DFL entry 2102A and the DFL entry 2103A.

As for the alternation of consecutive areas, it is of course also possible to update existing DFL entries after the second time.

(Embodiment 2)

2-1.NWA determination processing steps

Here, a method for specifying the next recordable position (hereinafter referred to as logical NWA) indicated by the logical address returned by the drive device 310 in response to the request from the host device 305 will be described.

In this embodiment, the logical NWA is determined through the following steps.

First, the ECC cluster next to the ECC cluster containing the physical sector indicated by LRA is determined. This ECC cluster is the next recording ECC cluster. The head physical sector where the ECC cluster is recorded is the next recordable position, and the next recordable position indicated by this physical address is the above-mentioned NWA.

The value of the logical NWA is a value obtained by converting the value of the PSN represented by the NWA into an LSN according to the initial logical address-physical address mapping.

Hereinafter, several specific examples are used for description.

In the state of FIG. 12 , since LRA 500 indicates the head of user data area 108 , NWA in the physical address space at this moment is PSN=1100. Since the LSN for PSN=1100 is LSN=0, logical NWA=0.

In FIG. 13A, host device 305 gets logical NWA=0 from drive device 310, indicating that data "A" is recorded on LSN=0.

In addition, after recording data "A", the LRA of track #1 refers to an ECC cluster including PSN=1100, so its NWA is PSN=1132. Thus, logical NWA=32. At this time, the host device 305 instructs logical NWA=32 to record data "B".

After recording data "B", since the LRA of track #1 refers to a physical sector within the ECC cluster containing PSN=1132, its NWA is PSN=1164. So logical NWA=64.

The above method for determining the logical NWA is characterized in that the logical NWA is determined so as to maintain the initial logical address-physical address mapping relationship. That is, after the NWA is determined according to the LRA in the track, the logical NWA is obtained by using the initial logical address-physical address mapping, so the replacement management information 1010B is not needed for new data recording.

In FIG. 14A , although the actual latest logical NWA corresponds to LRA500B, sometimes the host device 305 also holds the value of LRA501B as the logical NWA.

This state occurs when the drive device 310 performs recording to the position after PSN=1292 as an operation independent of the host device 305, and the host device 305 has not acquired the latest logic from the drive device 310. NWA.

In this state, if the host device 305 records and instructs new data, it issues a recording instruction to the logical NWA corresponding to the LRA 501B, but the actual data is recorded by the drive device 310 at the position of PSN=1336.

Since this record becomes an alternate record, new alternate management information is required.

On the other hand, if the host device 305 acquires the logical NWA corresponding to the latest LRA 500B from the drive device 310 and executes a new data recording instruction, the recording does not constitute alternate recording, and new alternate management information is not required.

15A and 16A are the same. In each figure, the host device 305 may hold the value of LRA501C as the logical NWA, but the actual latest LRAs are LRA500C and LRA500D.

Therefore, it is desirable that the host device 305 acquires the latest logical NWA before recording new data.

In summary, when the host device 305 instructs to record new data, for example, before step S102 in FIG. 8A , a request for acquiring the latest logical NWA from the drive device 310 is output. On the other hand, the drive device 310 that has received the request returns the logical NWA determined from the LRA and NWA to the host device 305 through the above steps.

The host device 305 that has received the logical NWA executes the following recording instructions based on this value.

With such an operation, the replacement management information 1010B is unnecessary for recording of new data, and the replacement management information 1010B is required only when replacement recording is performed.

As a result, an increase in the data volume of the alternate management information list 1000 can be suppressed, and effects such as reduction in processing volume during data recording and reproduction, reduction in memory capacity, and reduction in data capacity on the information recording medium 100 can be obtained.

(Embodiment 3)

3-1. Record processing steps (1)

In the NWA determination method of Embodiment 2 described above, a situation arises where a certain LSN is not used.

For example, in FIG. 14A, when viewed from the host device 305 or the file system, the logical sector at the position of LSN=96 is a logical sector to which no data has been recorded.

Such a logical sector is called an unrecorded logical sector, or an unused logical sector, an orphan logical sector, or the like.

In addition, a logical cluster composed of such unrecorded logical sectors is called an unrecorded logical cluster. For example, in FIG. 14A, the position of LSN=96-127 is an unrecorded logical cluster.

Likewise, in FIG. 15A, the position of LSN=X2 is an unrecorded logical sector.

As shown in FIG. 14A and the like, for such an unrecorded logical sector, an LSN is assigned in the same way as other normal logical sectors, and the LSN of subsequent logical sectors does not change. feature.

In the case of executing a recording instruction for such an unrecorded logical sector, the pseudo-overwrite recording is performed as in the above-described embodiment. For example, consider the following processing.

Here, it is assumed that in the state shown in FIG. 14A, a recording instruction is issued for data "F" at the position of LSN=96.

At this time, the drive device 310 converts LSN=96 to PSN=1196 according to the initial logical address-physical address mapping.

Comparing PSN=1196 with NWA, it can be known that PSN=1196 has been recorded.

At this time, as in the other embodiments described above, pseudo-overwrite recording is performed.

Therefore, the drive device 310 records the data "F" at the position indicated by NWA (PSN=1336 at this time), and also generates the replacement management information 518 .

With this processing, recording of the position of LSN=96 is performed. As a result, LSN=96 is not an unrecorded logical cluster, but constitutes a normal logical cluster.

Among them, the location of LSN=256-287 associated with the location of PSN=1336 through the initial logical address-physical address mapping becomes an unrecorded logical cluster again.

And, when the recording of the data "G" is performed, the state of FIG. 17A and FIG. 17B will be obtained.

3-2. Reproduction processing procedure (1)

In FIG. 14A, the logical cluster at the position of LSN=224 is an unrecorded logical cluster.

The physical cluster corresponding to the unrecorded logical cluster at the position of LSN=224 is the position of PSN=1324 using the initial logical address-physical address mapping.

The physical cluster at the location of PSN=1324 is also associated with the physical cluster at the location of PSN=1228 by using the replacement management information 514 .

In addition, the physical cluster at the location of PSN=1228 is mapped to the logical cluster at the location of LSN=128 according to the initial logical address-physical address mapping.

That is, the physical cluster at the position of PSN=1228 is assigned two logical clusters, namely, the logical cluster at the position of LSN=128 and the unrecorded logical cluster at the position of LSN=224.

Next, the procedure for performing playback in a state where these two logical clusters are allocated to one physical cluster will be described.

First, the host device 305 sends a reproduction instruction to the logical cluster at LSN=128, and then the drive device 310 converts the received LSN into a PSN (referred to as the reproduction destination PSN) according to the initial logical address-physical address mapping.

Here, the playback destination PSN is PSN=1228. If the replacement management information list is searched for replacement management information having PSN=1228 as the replacement source, replacement management information 514A will be found.

Thereafter, the replacement cluster indicated by the replacement management information 514A, that is, the physical cluster at the position of PSN=1324 is reproduced.

On the other hand, after a reproduction instruction is issued to the logical cluster at the position of LSN=224, a value of PSN=1324 is obtained as the reproduction destination PSN based on the initial logical address-physical address mapping. However, even if the replacement management information list was searched for, the replacement management information having PSN=1324 as the replacement source was not found.

The drive device 310 reproduces data according to PSN=1324.

With such reproduction processing, even when a reproduction instruction is issued to an unrecorded logical sector to which no data has been logically recorded once, data can be reproduced from the corresponding physical sector.

Therefore, when viewed from the file system on the host side, there are no exceptions to the area on the information recording medium 100, and it is not necessary to install complicated error handling in the system configuration, and the system can be constructed with simple installation.

When reproduction instruction is executed for an unrecorded logical sector, if data reproduction is performed from the above-mentioned corresponding physical cluster, data that should not be reproduced will be reproduced. When such data reproduction is not suitable in terms of system configuration, the following reproduction procedure can also be used.

That is, when reproducing data, according to the initial logical address-physical address mapping, the LSN designated for reproduction is converted into a PSN, and the replacement management information 1010B having the obtained PSN as the replacement source position information 1012 in the replacement management information list 1000 to search.

Once the corresponding replacement source location information 1012 is found, data is reproduced from the ECC cluster at the location indicated by the replacement destination location information 1013 as in the other embodiments described above.

If not found, next, the replacement source location information 1012 having the PSN value corresponding to the playback specified LSN is searched for the replacement destination location information 1013 .

If the corresponding replacement destination position information 1013 is found, it is determined that the ECC cluster indicated by the replacement destination position information 1013 has already been recorded as a replacement cluster.

At this time, the drive device 310 does not reproduce data from the ECC cluster, but returns a predetermined value, for example, all 0 values from the host device 305 as the reproduced data.

Through such reproduction processing, even when a reproduction instruction is issued for an unrecorded logical sector, appropriate data can be reproduced from the corresponding physical sector.

In each step of the playback process described with reference to FIG. 10 , when the drive device 310 receives a playback instruction from the host device 305 , it executes the playback process.

3-3. Comparison of NWA determination steps

Unlike the above-mentioned embodiment, the NWA determination procedure in which no unrecorded logical sectors are generated will be described.

In this NWA determining step, the logical LRA is managed, and new data is recorded on the logical NWA adjacent to the logical LRA.

At this time, the LSN representing the logical NWA is converted into a PSN (set as PSN-1) using the initial logical address-physical address mapping.

For this logical NWA, it is assumed that the ECC cluster in which data is actually recorded is the ECC cluster next to the ECC cluster including the PSN indicated by LRA 213 , that is, NWA (the PSN indicating the position of the NWA is PSN-2).

Alternate recording is performed in which PSN-1 is used as an alternate source and PSN-2 is used as an alternate destination.

At this time, due to the management logic NWA, a different embodiment of the track management information 3210 shown in FIG. 25 is used.

The final data recording logical location information 3214 within a track is redefined by the track management information 3210 of FIG. 25 .

In-track final data recording position information 213 is used to manage the final recording position in the PSN-based logical address space, whereas intra-track final data recording logical position information 3214 is used to manage the final recording position in the LSN-based logical address space.

The drive device 310 can determine the logical NWA of each track by referring to the last data recording logical position information 3214 within the track.

The update method of the final data recording logical position information 3214 in a track is as follows.

That is, 0 is set as the initial value of the last data recording logical position information 3214 in a track. After that, the drive device 310 that has received the recording instruction from the host device 305 receives the recording position as an LSN. When the received LSN is larger than the last data recording logical position information 3214 in a track, the last data recording logical position information 3214 in a track is updated using this LSN.

Through this process, the final data recording logical position information 3214 within the track can be kept at the maximum value.

In FIG. 26A, the data "A", "B", "C", "D", "F", and "G" are executed in the same order as in FIG. 13A, FIG. 14A, and FIG. 17A using the NWA determination steps described above Data structure when logging.

In FIG. 26B, all defective clusters are registered as replacement management information (7). However, these replacement management information may be deleted from the replacement management information list 1000F (7). By deletion, the capacity in the alternate management information list 1000F can be reduced.

Here, when the replacement management information lists 1000E and 1000F in FIG. 17B and FIG. 26B are compared, the number of replacement management information in the replacement management information list 1000E becomes smaller.

When the comparison is performed with the replacement management information ( 7 ) deleted, the number of replacement management information in the replacement management information list 1000E is smaller.

Therefore, the method of specifying NWAs with unrecorded logical sectors described in Embodiment 1 or Embodiment 2 is more effective than the method described with reference to FIG. Data capacity is ideal.

In the replacement management information list 1000F, by leaving the replacement management information (7), the distribution of defective clusters on the information recording medium 100 can be grasped in advance, and it can be applied to processes such as reading data while avoiding them during reproduction. optimization.

(Embodiment 4)

The step of recording data is further described in this embodiment.

所示的位置表示ECC簇之间的边界。下面，在其它图中也一样。FIG. 27 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of the information recording medium 100 before data recording is performed according to this embodiment. In the figure,

The positions shown represent boundaries between ECC clusters. Next, the same applies to other figures.

In this state, the recording procedure when an instruction to record the data "D1" 4622 and the data "E1" 4623 is issued from the host device 305 to the drive device 310 will be described.

The recording instruction of the data "D1" 4622 is, for example, to perform pseudo-overwrite recording at the position PSN=a0 in the already-recorded area 4600 .

When executing the recording instruction, the host device 305 requests the logical NWA from the drive device 310 .

The drive device 310 that requested the logical NWA determines the NWA 4611A based on the LRA 4610A, and returns the logical NWA corresponding to the NWA 4611A to the host device 305 .

At this time, the host device 305 may sequentially instruct the drive device 310 to record data "D1" 4622 corresponding to LSN=A0 corresponding to PSN=a0 and to record data "D1" 4622 corresponding to NWA4611A (PSN=a2) to LSN=A2. Record indication of data "E1" 4623.

If the drive device 310 executes the recording instructions in the order of data "D1" 4622 and data "E1" 4623 as indicated by the recording instructions of the host device 305, the recording results are as shown in FIG. 28 .

Here, the recording of the data “D1” 4622 indicates a pseudo-overwrite recording to the already-recorded area 4600 . Thus, the data "D1" 4622 is alternately NWA4611A (PSN=a2). After that, NWA4611A becomes NWA4611B (PSN=a3).

With this alternate recording, the position of PSN=a2 has already been recorded, so the data "E1" 4623 is further alternated to NWA4611B (PNS=a3).

As described above, although the host device 305 issued a recording instruction to LSN=A2 corresponding to NWA4611A (PSN=a2), it is actually recorded at a different location (PSN=a3).

As a result, replacement management information 1010 is generated not only for the data "D1" 4622A but also for the data "E1" 4223A, resulting in an increase in the capacity of the replacement management information list 1000 .

The reason for such a problem is that alternate recording that the host device 305 does not expect is performed by the drive device.

That is, after alternate recording is performed by the drive device, alternate processing is required in response to a further recording instruction from the host device 305, and the capacity of the alternate management information list 1000 is increased.

On the other hand, a method in which the replacement management information 1010 for the data "E1" 4623 is not generated in the recording procedure of this embodiment will be described below.

In this embodiment, when the host device 305 executes a recording instruction in the state shown in FIG. 27 , it first executes an overwrite recording instruction.

After that, following the recording instruction of overwriting, the recording instruction of overwrite recording is executed. The result of this recording step constitutes the data structure of FIG. 29 .

The file system operating on the host device 305 performs update or new creation management of all files, so the order of recording instructions can be determined.

In FIG. 29, data "E1" 4623B is recorded in NWA 4611A (PSN=a2). In addition, data "D1" 4622B is recorded in PSN=a4.

As described above, since the host device 305 has issued a recording instruction to NWA4611A (PSN=a2), the location where the recording instruction is executed is the same as the actual recording location. Therefore, this recording does not constitute alternate recording.

That is, the replacement management information 1010 for the data "E1" 4623 is not generated, and the capacity of the replacement management information list 1000 can be prevented from increasing.

In the recording of the data "D1" 4622, the same replacement management information 1010 is required even in the case of either of FIG. 28 and FIG. 29 . In FIGS. 28 and 29, only the recording position of the data "D1" 4622 (ie, the position of the replacement destination) is changed, and the number of required replacement management information 1010 is not changed.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when the host device 305 is to perform overwrite recording and overwrite, by giving priority recording instructions for overwrite, it is possible to avoid generation of replacement management information 1010 and effectively reduce the number of replacement management information lists 1000. data capacity.

(Embodiment 5)

Here, consider a case where the host device 305 divides data of a certain capacity for each ECC cluster capacity (for example, 64 KB), and sequentially instructs the drive device 310 to record for each divided unit.

When the drive device 310 continuously records these data, there may be a defective cluster at a certain recording position, and an adjacent ECC cluster is used instead of the defective cluster.

In this case, after the subsequent recording position, data is alternately recorded for each cluster in the direction in which the PSN is larger.

At this time, alternate management information is required for each recording unit, and when the volume of recorded data is large, a large amount of alternate management information is required, and the data capacity of the alternate management information list 1000 increases.

Therefore, in this embodiment, it is effective to reduce the data capacity of the alternate management information list 1000 in alternate recording. Referring to FIG. 30 , a description will be given of the procedure of selecting a recording destination for a substitute cluster performed by the drive device 310 .

In FIG. 30 , alternate recording is executed with the alternate source cluster 5700 as the alternate source, for example, by a recording instruction from the host device 305 .

At this time, the replacement destination is determined by the following procedure.

In FIG. 30, there are unrecorded area 5601A (in track #N 5602), unrecorded area 5612 (in track #N+15610), and unrecorded area 5622 (in track #N+25620) as alternative destinations where alternative clusters can be allocated. Middle), unrecorded area 5623 (in track #N+35630).

Here, the distance from the position of the replacement source cluster 5700 (for example, the first physical sector in the replacement source cluster 5700 ) to the candidate position of the replacement destination (for example, the NWA position of an open track) is investigated. In FIG. 30, the above-mentioned alternative destination candidates are D13, D12, D10, and D11, respectively.

Here, the magnitude relation of the value of each distance is assumed to be D13>D12>D11>D10.

By selecting the unrecorded area 5622 with the shortest distance (that is, D10) as the replacement destination, the distance from the replacement source to the replacement destination is the shortest at this moment, and the access time during data reproduction can be minimized.

However, the unrecorded area 5622 is included in the track #N+2 5620 like the alternate source position 5700 . Thus, if the replacement destination is the unrecorded area 5622 , as described above, when consecutive recording instructions are executed from the host device 305 , a problem arises that the data capacity of the replacement management information list 1000 increases.

Therefore, this embodiment is characterized in that the unrecorded area closest to the replacement source cluster is selected as the replacement destination, but in this selection, the unrecorded area in the same track as the replacement source cluster is removed.

That is, the unrecorded area 5622 having the shortest distance is removed, and the unrecorded area 5632 having the next shorter distance (that is, D11) is set as an alternate destination.

Thus, when the host device 305 executes a recording instruction for the replacement source cluster 5700 , the drive device 310 records the replacement destination cluster 5710 in the NWA position of the unrecorded area 5632 .

After that, replacement management information indicating the mapping from the replacement source cluster 5700 to the replacement destination cluster 5710 is generated and recorded.

As described with reference to steps S107 and S112 (FIG. 8A), the drive control unit 311 of the present invention controls the recording and reproducing unit 314 to record data at a specific position in the user data area 108 when performing pseudo-overwrite recording. The specific location is a specific location other than the location indicated by the physical address corresponding to the logical address included in the received recording instruction.

In this embodiment, the specific location is an NWA within an open orbit different from the orbit determined in step S104 (FIG. 8A).

The NWA in this open track indicates the closest position to the position indicated by the physical address corresponding to the logical address included in the recording instruction.

Through this recording procedure, even if the host device 305 continues to issue recording instructions, even if new data is recorded to the unrecorded area 5622, alternate recording is not constituted, and alternate management information does not need to be added.

The distance from an alternate source to an alternate destination is the closest except for the same orbit. Thus, the access time in data reproduction can be shortened.

Alternatively, only the unrecorded area having a PSN larger than that of the replacement source cluster may be targeted, and the distance may be checked to determine the replacement destination. This is because in the write-once type information recording medium, since sequential recording is performed in the direction in which the PSN increases, alternate recording in the direction in which the PSN increases can efficiently perform data access. At this time, if there is no unrecorded area with a large PSN, it is only necessary to target an unrecorded area with a small PSN.

Also, in the case of having a plurality of unrecorded areas with equal distances, it is desirable to select a direction in which PSN increases. This is because in the write-once type information recording medium, since sequential recording is performed in the direction in which the PSN increases, alternate recording in the direction in which the PSN increases can efficiently perform data access.

The distance between the replacement source and the replacement destination may also be determined according to the difference between the PSN values of the replacement source and the replacement destination. Alternatively, it is determined based on the physical distance between the alternate source and the alternate destination. This is because in the information recording medium 100, PSN may increase spirally from the inner peripheral side, so the difference in PSN value does not correspond to the physical distance. For example, although ECC clusters adjacent in the radial direction of the information recording medium 100 are physically closer to each other, the difference in PSN value is not the smallest.

(Embodiment 6)

This embodiment further describes the steps of recording data.

5-1. Data structure

It has been described that the user data area 102 of the information recording medium 100 of the present invention is divided into the smallest access unit, ie, physical sectors, and data is recorded and reproduced using an ECC cluster composed of a plurality of physical sectors as the smallest unit.

Each ECC cluster and physical sector includes address information, various control information, and attribute information (user control data) in addition to user data.

This information also includes information set in units of physical sectors and information set in units of ECC clusters.

In order to improve the reliability of recorded data, user data or user control data is recorded on the information recording medium 100 after being interleaved or scrambled in units of ECC clusters.

In this embodiment, several pieces of attribute information included in an ECC cluster will be described.

As shown in FIG. 34 , attribute information such as Flag-A, Flag-B, and Flag-C are set for each physical sector included in the ECC cluster of the present invention.

Flag-A is a padding flag indicating whether the data recorded in each physical sector is valid data provided from the host device 305 (Flag-A=0), or padding data recorded by the drive device 310 to be embedded in the ECC cluster boundary (For example, dummy data with all 0s) (Flag-A=1). Padding data is an example of invalid data.

When the data capacity of the recording instruction from the host device 305 is not an integral multiple of the ECC cluster capacity, the drive device 310 inserts padding data so that the capacity of the recorded data matches the boundary of the ECC cluster.

Flag-B is a validity flag, indicating whether the data recorded in each physical sector is valid data (Flag-B=0) or invalid data (Flag-B=1).

Normally, Flag-B=0 because each physical cluster of non-stuff data includes valid data, but Flag-B=1 may be set when RMW processing is performed, for example.

That is, in the RMW process for alternate recording, sometimes a certain physical sector cannot be reproduced.

When there is such an unreproducible physical sector, there is no data to be recorded in the corresponding alternate destination physical sector.

As described with reference to FIG. 8B , in the RMW process, after data has been reproduced from the physical sector, it is necessary to write the data back again. Therefore, in step S153 shown in FIG. 8B, if reproduction from a certain physical sector fails, the data cannot be written back, and a recording error occurs.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the drive control unit 311 of the drive device 310 records invalid data (for example, dummy data such as 00h) in a physical sector where there is no alternate destination of data to be recorded.

The drive control unit 311 sets Flag-B=1 to the physical sector in which the dummy data is recorded. Flag-B=1 means no valid data is recorded.

Through this data recording procedure, errors in RMW processing can be avoided.

Flag-C is an update flag, which is set for each physical sector in the replacement cluster.

When the data of each physical sector included in the replacement cluster is changed from the data from the replacement source, Flag-C=0 is set as update. On the other hand, when the data of the update source is recorded without performing the change, Flag-C=1 is set as no update.

Furthermore, each ECC cluster in this embodiment has pre-alternation position information as one of its attribute information. The details of the setting procedure of the pre-alternation position information will be described later.

In this embodiment, flag information is further added to the state information 1011 described with reference to FIG. 11 .

Here, as shown in the replacement management information 1010C shown in FIG. 35 , as Flag4, the type of data included in the ECC cluster indicated by the replacement source location information 1012 can be determined.

Here, the data type is information determined based on the relationship between the data contained in the cluster indicated by the replacement source position information 1012 and the data contained in the cluster indicated by the replacement destination position information 1013 .

Specifically, the first data type corresponds to a case where the replacement source position information 1012 indicates a defective cluster. Let the value of Flag4 at this time be "00", for example.

The second data type corresponds to updating the data included in the cluster indicated by the replacement source position information 1012 and recording the updated data in the cluster indicated by the replacement destination position information 1013 by pseudo-overwriting. Let the value of Flag4 at this time be "01", for example.

The third data type corresponds to a case where data is recorded in the cluster indicated by the replacement destination location information 1013 by pseudo-overwriting irrespective of the data included in the cluster indicated by the replacement source location information 1012 . Let the value of Flag4 at this time be "10", for example.

For example, according to the above-described embodiment, the replacement management information 512 shown in FIG. 13B corresponds to Flag4=00. In addition, the replacement management information 514A shown in FIG. 14B or the replacement management information 6200 shown in FIG. 39B corresponds to Flag4=01. The replacement management information 518 shown in FIG. 17B corresponds to Flag4=10.

As shown in the replacement management information 6200, when the same information as Flag4 is included in the DFL entry 2010 shown in FIG. 18, it only needs to be included in the state 2 2011B, for example. For example, when the value of State 2 2011B is "1000", it corresponds to the case where Flag4=01.

This Flag4 is set at the time of data recording. For example, in step S113 of FIG. 8A , the information of Flag4 is set. Alternatively, set state 2 2011B equivalent to Flag4. The details of the setting procedure of Flag4 will be described later.

5-2. Record processing steps

The procedure of data recording in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 36A , 36B, and 36C. Here, it is assumed that data is recorded on the information recording medium 100 using the information recording and reproducing apparatus 300 shown in FIG. 6 .

Fig. 36A shows a detailed example of the processing of step S156 shown in Fig. 8B. Each step shown in FIG. 36A is executed by the drive control unit 311 of the drive device 310 .

Before step S156 in FIG. 8B , read processing is performed in step S153 or step S154 in FIG. 8B , and thereafter, modification processing is performed in step S155 .

In steps S153 and S154, if the reproduction is successful, the drive control section 311 stores the reproduced data in the memory circuit 312, and if there is a physical sector in which the reproduction fails in the alternate source ECC cluster, the drive control section 311 311 In order to generate the data to be recorded in the replacement destination ECC cluster, use invalid data recorded in the physical sector in the replacement destination ECC cluster corresponding to the physical sector that failed to be reproduced in the replacement source ECC cluster, that is, Dummy data is inserted into data held in the memory circuit 312 .

Next, in step S155, the data to be recorded held in the memory circuit 132 is changed using the data indicated by the recording instruction.

The above results are held in the memory circuit 132 as data to be recorded.

Next, each step shown in FIG. 36A will be described in detail.

(Step S501 ) The drive control unit 311 specifies data to be recorded on the information recording medium 100 .

(Step S502 ) The drive control unit 311 sets attribute information of data held in the memory circuit 312 from which to start recording.

When it is determined in step S151 ( FIG. 8B ) that RMW processing is necessary, the value of the attribute information obtained as a result of playback in step S153 or step S154 is retained as it is.

In steps S153 and S154, in the case where there is a physical sector that fails to be reproduced in the replacement source ECC cluster, as data that should be recorded in the replacement destination, invalid data, that is, dummy data, is inserted as data that should be recorded in the data corresponding to the replacement destination. The data in the physical sector in the alternate destination ECC cluster of the failed physical sector is reproduced in the source ECC cluster. In step S502, "1" is set to Flag-B corresponding to the physical sector in which the invalid data is inserted.

In step S155 (FIG. 8B), Flag-C=0 is set for the physical sector after the modification process of the RMW process is performed.

(Step S503 ) The drive control unit 311 sets the pre-alternation position information for the corresponding recording data held in the memory circuit 312 .

In step S155 (FIG. 8B), when it is determined that the ECC cluster containing the position specified by the recording instruction has not been alternately completed (that is, the data recording performed according to the recording instruction is the first simulated overwrite recording), the The location information before replacement sets information indicating the address of the replacement source cluster. The address of the alternate source cluster represents the location specified by the record indication (for example, according to the initial logical address-physical address mapping, the logical address specified by the record indication is transformed into a physical address, and the beginning PSN value of the ECC cluster containing the physical address indicated location).

In step S151 (FIG. 8B), when it is determined that the ECC cluster containing the position specified by the recording instruction has been alternated as an alternate cluster (that is, the data recording performed according to the recording instruction is the simulated overwrite recording after the second time) In this case, information indicating the address of the replacement cluster that has been replaced is set in the position information before replacement so as to indicate the previous replacement destination cluster.

The address of the previous replacement destination cluster has already been acquired from the replacement management information in step S151 ( FIG. 8B ), for example.

In the above step S502 (FIG. 36A), if there is a physical sector in which Flag-B=1 is set in the replacement destination cluster, in step S113 of FIG. 8A, the replacement management information for the replacement process will be managed. The state of 2 2011B is set to "1000".

Fig. 36B shows a detailed example of the processing of step S157 shown in Fig. 8B. Each step shown in FIG. 36B is executed by the drive control unit 311 of the drive device 310 .

(Step S506 ) The drive control unit 311 specifies the data designated by the recording instruction as the data to be recorded on the information recording medium 100 .

(Step S507) The drive control section 311 sets the attribute information held in the memory circuit 312 for the data from which recording is started.

A predetermined value is set for each flag included in the attribute information of the ECC cluster. For example, set Flag-A=0, Flag-B=0, and Flag-C=0.

The result is held in the memory circuit 312 as data to be recorded.

(Step S508 ) The drive control unit 311 sets the pre-alternation position information for the data from which the recording starts, which is held in the memory circuit 312 .

This step is the same as S503 in Fig. 36A.

Fig. 36C shows a detailed example of the processing of step S109 shown in Fig. 8A. Each step shown in FIG. 36C is executed by the drive control unit 311 of the drive device 310 .

(Step S511) The drive control unit 311 specifies data to be recorded. Specifically, the drive control unit 311 specifies the data designated by the recording instruction as the data to be recorded.

At this time, the drive control unit 311 judges whether or not the end of the data specified by the recording instruction coincides with the ECC cluster boundary. In the case of inconsistency, padding data (for example, data of all 00h) is inserted so that the end of the data coincides with the ECC cluster boundary, and is determined as data to be recorded.

(Step S512) The drive control section 311 sets the attribute information held in the memory circuit 312 for the data from which the recording is started.

Initial values are set for each flag included in the attribute information of the ECC cluster. For example, set Flag-A=0, Flag-B=0, and Flag-C=1.

Among them, Flag-A=1 is set for the physical sector in which the padding data is recorded in step S511.

The result is held in the memory circuit 312 as data to be recorded.

(Step S512 ) The drive control unit 311 sets the pre-alternation position information for the data from which the recording starts, which is held in the memory circuit 312 .

In this step, information indicating non-alternate recording is set in the pre-alternate position information.

For example, all values are set to "0".

5-3. Reproduction processing procedure

Referring to Fig. 37, the procedure of data reproduction in this embodiment will be described. Here, it is assumed that data is reproduced from the information recording medium 100 using the information recording and reproducing apparatus 300 shown in FIG. 6 .

Each step shown in FIG. 37 is executed by the drive control unit 311 of the drive device 310 .

(Step S651) The drive control unit 311 receives a playback instruction.

(Step S652) The drive control unit 311 converts the logical address indicating the playback position included in the playback instruction into a physical address based on the initial logical address-physical address mapping.

(Step S653) The drive control unit 311 searches for the replacement management information including the head PSN of the ECC cluster having the physical address obtained in step S652 as the replacement source.

If the replacement management information is found, the process proceeds to S654. If the replacement management information is not found, the process proceeds to S655.

(Step S654) The drive control unit 311 sets the physical address indicated as the replacement destination by the replacement management information found in step S653 as the reproduction position.

(Step S655) The drive control unit 311 sets a physical address obtained by converting the logical address specified by the playback instruction based on the initial logical address-physical address mapping, as the playback position.

(Step S656) The drive control unit 311 controls the recording and reproducing unit 314 so as to reproduce data based on the reproduction position set in the previous step.

The drive control unit 311 uses the error detection and correction function to determine whether reproduction has succeeded.

When reproduction of all physical sectors is successful, the reproduction process ends.

In a case where there is a physical sector whose reproduction failed, the process proceeds to step S657.

(Step S657) The drive control section 311 determines whether the reproduction process can be re-executed for the physical sector whose reproduction failed.

It is determined whether to set Flag-B=1 for the physical sector whose reproduction failed.

In a case where it is determined that Flag-B=1 is set, the process proceeds to step S659. At this time, by re-executing data reproduction from the position indicated by the pre-alternation position information, it is possible to recover from a reproduction error.

Alternatively, if it is determined in step S653 that there is a replacement destination, it is judged whether Flag4 of the replacement management information is "01" (or the status 2 2011B is "1000"). The determination based on Flag4 is particularly effective when playback in step S656 fails and Flag-B cannot be played back.

If it is determined that Flag4 is "01", the process proceeds to S659.

In other cases (including the case where it is not determined in step S653 that there is no replacement destination), the process proceeds to S658.

(Step S658) The drive control section 311 determines that a reproduction error has occurred. As a result, the reproduction processing ends.

(Step S659) The drive control unit 311 sets the physical address indicated by the pre-alternation position information as the reproduction position.

(Step S660) The drive control unit 311 controls the recording and reproducing unit 314 so as to reproduce data based on the reproduction position set in the previous step.

Use the error detection and correction function to judge whether the reproduction is successful or not.

In case of success, the reproduction process ends. At this time, the data reproduced from the physical sector corresponding to the physical sector in which Flag-B=1 is set in the replacement destination cluster is output to the host device 305 .

In case of failure, the process proceeds to step S658.

When the reproduction instruction is executed for the unrecorded logical sector, as described in step S656, if the data reproduction is performed from the corresponding physical sector, the data that should not be reproduced originally is reproduced. When such a data reproduction failure occurs, the following reproduction procedure can also be used.

That is, when reproducing data, according to the initial logical address-physical address mapping, the LSN designated for reproduction is converted into a PSN, and the replacement management information 1010B having the obtained PSN as the replacement source position information 1012 in the replacement management information list 1000 to search. If no corresponding alternate source location information 1012 is found, data is reproduced from the resulting physical sector of the PSN.

At this time, the pre-alternation position information is acquired from the ECC cluster including the physical sector to be reproduced, and it is checked whether a valid value is registered in the pre-alternation position information. If a valid value is registered in the pre-alternation position information, it can be seen that the ECC cluster is an unrecorded logical cluster, so the drive device 310 does not return the data reproduced from the ECC cluster to the host device 305, but instead returns a predetermined value, For example, all values of 0 are used as reproduction data.

In addition, instead of checking the pre-alternation position information, Flag-A may be checked. Flag-A corresponding to the reproduced physical sector is acquired, and the value of Flag-A is checked. When Flag-A=1, it can be seen that the physical sector is an unrecorded logical sector, so the drive device 310 does not return the data reproduced from the physical sector to the host device 305, but instead returns a predetermined value, for example, all A value of 0 is used as reproduction data.

In addition, Flag-B can also be checked. Similarly, Flag-B corresponding to the reproduced physical sector is obtained, and the value is checked. When Flag-B=1, it can be seen that the physical sector is an unrecorded logical sector, so the drive device 310 does not return the data reproduced from the physical sector to the host device 305, but instead returns a predetermined value, for example, all A value of 0 is used as reproduction data.

In addition, Flag-C can also be checked. Similarly, Flag-C corresponding to the reproduced physical sector is obtained, and the value is checked. When Flag-C=0, it can be seen that the physical sector is an unrecorded logical sector, so the drive device 310 does not return the data reproduced from the physical sector to the host device 305, but instead returns a predetermined value, for example, all A value of 0 is used as reproduction data.

Through such reproduction processing, even when a reproduction instruction is issued for an unrecorded logical sector, appropriate data can be reproduced from the corresponding physical sector.

5-4. Example of recording and reproduction processing

Next, an example of specific processing based on the data recording and reproducing steps shown in FIGS. 36A to 36C and FIG. 37 will be described.

For example, assume that in FIG. 34, data "A0" is newly recorded in ECC cluster #i 6000 in the user data area by a recording instruction from the host device 305. At this time, the values of the flags for the physical sector 603 in which the data "A0" is recorded are Flag-A=0, Flag-B=0, and Flag-C=0.

Also, since the capacity of the data "A0" supplied from the host device 305 does not match the ECC cluster boundary, the remaining part of the ECC cluster #i 6000 is recorded with invalid data, that is, padding data, by the drive device 310. The value of each flag for the physical sector in which padding data is recorded is Flag-A=1, Flag-B=0, and so on.

Next, in the state of FIG. 34, if the host device 305 instructs PSN=a1 in the ECC cluster #i 6000 to record data "B1", the recording result is as shown in FIG. 38A.

In the state of FIG. 34, the ECC cluster #i 6000 has already been recorded, so the RMW process and alternate process are executed. That is, the drive device 310 reproduces the ECC cluster #i 6000. Data "B1" is inserted into reproduced data "A0", and necessary flag values are also updated. In addition, padding data is inserted up to the boundary of the ECC cluster.

The data thus obtained is recorded in ECC cluster #i+1 6001 which is an unrecorded area. The replacement management information 1010 is generated with ECC cluster #i 6000 as the replacement source and ECC cluster #i+1 6001 as the replacement destination.

As shown in FIG. 38A, the value of Flag-C is 1 for the physical sector in which data "A0" is recorded in ECC cluster #i+1 6001. This is because, in the aforementioned RMW process, the drive device 310 copies the data "A0" from the ECC cluster #i to the ECC cluster #i+1 without updating it.

Next, assuming that the host device 305 instructs to record data "C2" in the ECC cluster #i6000 in the state of FIG. 38A, the recording result is as shown in FIG. 39A.

Also at this time, since the ECC cluster #i 6000 has already been recorded, RMW processing and alternate processing are executed. That is, the drive device 310 reproduces the ECC cluster #i+1 6001. After that, insertion of data "C2" and stuffing data and necessary updating of flag values are performed on the reproduced data. The resulting data is recorded to ECC cluster #i+2 6002 which is an unrecorded area. Then, the replacement management information 6200 shown in FIG. 39B is generated in which ECC cluster #i 6000 is the replacement source and ECC cluster #i+2 is the replacement destination.

Here, it is assumed that playback of data "A0" fails during playback of ECC cluster #i+1 6001. If previously, due to this failure, it was not possible to proceed to RMW processing, an error was recorded.

On the other hand, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 40A , dummy data is recorded in the physical sector of the ECC cluster #i+2 6003 where the data "A0" should be recorded, and is set to Flag as a flag value. -B=1. In other physical sectors, correct data reproduced from ECC cluster #i+1 6002 which is the previous alternate position is recorded. Through this recording procedure, recording to the ECC cluster #i+2 can be continued.

Also at this time, the replacement management information 6200 shown in FIG. 39B is generated.

Or as shown in Figure 39A, check the value of Flag-C of the physical sector that has recorded data "A0" in ECC cluster #i+1 6001, if there is no update (=1), then record ECC cluster #i The ECC cluster #i 6000 of the data in the state before +1 6001 reads the data "A0", and records it in the ECC cluster #i+2 6002.

Since data in such a previous state is read, each ECC cluster in this embodiment has pre-alternation position information as one of its attribute information.

The pre-alternation position information will be described with reference to FIGS. 38A , 39A, and 40A. For example, in the case of ECC cluster #i+1 6001, the address information of the first physical sector of ECC cluster #i 6000, that is, the value of PSN=a0, is provided as position information before replacement 6101 (refer to FIG. 38A ). Similarly, in the case of ECC cluster #i+2, address information of the head physical sector of ECC cluster #i+1, that is, a value of PSN=a2, is provided as pre-alternation position information 6102 (see FIGS. 39A and 40A ).

That is, the recording of data "B0" in the ECC cluster #i+1 6001 described with reference to FIG. 38A is the first alternate recording, and since there is no previous alternate position, the ECC cluster # of the alternate source is set in the pre-alternate position information 6101. The address information of the first physical sector of i 6000, that is, the value of PSN=a0.

In addition, the recording of data "C2" in the ECC cluster #i+2 6002 described with reference to FIG. 39A is alternate recording after the second time, so the ECC cluster #i+1 which is the previous alternate destination is set in the pre-alternation position information 6100. The address information of the first physical sector in 6001, that is, the value of PSN=a2.

Note that the recording of data "A0" in the ECC cluster #i 6000 described with reference to FIG. 34A is not alternate recording, so "0" is set, for example, in the pre-alternation position information 6100 as information indicating this content.

In write-once media using ECC clusters, there is a characteristic that updating of data becomes pseudo-overwrite recording, and new data is recorded while the previous state data remains.

In the present embodiment, by utilizing this feature, identification information indicating whether data has been updated during RMW processing or position information before replacement is newly provided in the ECC cluster, thereby improving the reliability of pseudo-overwrite recording.

That is, attribute information indicating whether the data recorded by the drive device 310 in each physical sector is valid data or invalid data supplied from the host device 305 is set.

In the case of invalid data, the drive device 310 can distinguish that it is stuffing data recorded to be embedded in an ECC cluster boundary because the data capacity indicated by the recording from the host device 305 is smaller than the capacity of the ECC cluster (Flag- A=1), and invalid data (Flag-B=1).

In the RMW process, even if a playback error occurs, the recording process can be completed by recording dummy data as invalid data and setting attribute information (Flag-B=1) indicating this state. Also, when reproducing, it is possible to judge whether there is previous valid data at the position indicated by the pre-alternation position information, and to perform recovery from a reproduction error by reproducing the previous data.

By distinguishing invalid data (fill data) and dummy data inserted due to the small data capacity of the recording instruction from the host device 305 in units of physical sectors, it is possible to determine from which physical sector to recover from a reproduction error. data is valid.

If it is determined that previous valid data exists, the data is reproduced from the ECC cluster at the position indicated by the pre-alternation position information to obtain valid data. Accordingly, reliability in pseudo-overwrite recording can be improved.

In addition, by setting the pre-alternation position information, it is possible to reproduce previous data at the time of reproduction from an alternately recorded ECC cluster, and perform recovery from a reproduction error.

In addition, by setting this Flag4, effects can be obtained in the following cases.

That is, when a certain replacement cluster is to be played back, the replacement cluster may not be played back for some reason. For example, when stains such as user's fingerprints adhere to the substitute cluster.

At this time, the drive device 310 refers to Flag4 of the replacement management information, and attempts playback of the ECC cluster indicated by the replacement source information 1012 when Flag4=00 or Flag4=01.

When Flag4=00, the replacement source is a defective cluster, and the verification process at the time of recording has failed.

However, this time, if the reproduction is performed, there is a possibility that the reproduction will succeed. For example, when the state of the information recording medium 100 is changed (stain removal, ambient temperature is different, etc.) at the time of inspection, or the drive device for performing reproduction is different, the reproduction may be successful.

If the reproduction is successful, it is the same as the data to be reproduced from the alternate destination. As a result, even if playback of the replacement cluster fails, necessary data can be played back from the replacement source cluster, and correct data can be received as the host device 305 .

Also, when Flag4=01, the replacement source is the cluster before the update, and its playback is usually performed. Among them, part or all of the data in the ECC cluster is rewritten by the RMW process when updating the record.

Conversely, since some data remains unchanged in the cluster before the update, the unaltered data is valid data for the host device 305 .

And, since only such unaltered data is reliably returned from the drive device 310 to the host device 305, it is also possible to record information that can identify the updated physical sector and the non-updated physical sector at the time of RMW in each physical sector. area. For example, Flag-B or Flag-C, which is the attribute information of the ECC cluster, corresponds to this.

Thus, only the data on the unupdated physical sectors can be returned to the host device 305 .

Also, when Flag4=10, since the replacement source is data that has nothing to do with the update, playback is not performed, and it is handled as a playback error.

By executing the above processing, it is possible to perform recording and reproduction of highly reliable data on the information recording medium 100 .

As an example of Flag4=01, as shown in the above-mentioned replacement management information 514A or replacement management information 6200, when multiple times of replacement recording is performed, the replacement source information 1012 of the replacement management information does not constitute the previous replacement destination cluster.

For example, the replacement source cluster indicated by the replacement source information 1012 of the replacement management information 514A is the ECC cluster with PSN=1228, but the previous replacement destination cluster is the ECC cluster with PSN=1292.

Thus, when alternate recording has been performed a plurality of times, the previous pre-update cluster can be known by referring to the above-mentioned pre-alternate position information.

For example, in the case of the replacement management information 6200 shown in FIG. 39B, the state 22001B="1000" refers to the ECC cluster #i 6000 with PSN=a0 as the replacement source cluster.

However, as shown in FIG. 39A, for the ECC cluster #i+2 6002, the previous pre-update cluster is the ECC cluster #i+1 6001.

Also, since the head physical sector of ECC cluster #i+2 6002 cannot be reproduced in the RMW process, dummy data (Flag-B=1) is recorded.

At this time, when the drive device 310 reproduces the ECC cluster #i+2 6002, it starts to reproduce data from the ECC cluster #i+1 6001 which is the cluster before updating, replaces the head sector of the ECC cluster #i+2 6002, and replaces the ECC cluster #i+2 6002 with The data on the head sector of #i+1 6001 is returned to the host device 305.

(Embodiment 7)

When the latest replacement management information list cannot be reproduced due to scratches or stains on the information recording medium, it cannot be specified whether to replace the ECC cluster designated by the reproduction instruction with another ECC cluster. In this case, the data instructed to be reproduced cannot be reproduced correctly.

Therefore, in order to reproduce data correctly, it is necessary to check whether the ECC cluster designated by the reproduction instruction has replaced another ECC cluster, and to restore the latest replacement management information list.

Referring to FIG. 41 , the procedure for reproducing data when part or all of the replacement management information list 1000 cannot be reproduced for some reason in this embodiment will be described.

FIG. 41 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of the information recording medium 100 on which data recording has been performed multiple times.

In Figure 41, the ECC cluster #j 7000 is used as the source of the alternation, and multiple alternate recordings are performed. The alternate destinations are set as ECC clusters #j+1 7001, #j+2 7002, #j- 17003.

The recording order is determined by the search procedure, for example, as described in the above-mentioned embodiment, that is, when searching for an alternate destination, search the unrecorded area in the direction of increasing PSN, and return to the beginning when the end of the user data area is reached.

In this embodiment, each ECC cluster includes the pre-alternation position information shown in FIG. 41 .

In this state, if part or all of the alternate management information list 1000 cannot be reproduced for some reason, the data cannot be reproduced correctly because the correspondence relationship of the alternate records is not known in the past.

In this embodiment, a method of restoring the latest replacement management information list 1000 by checking the pre-replacement position information of each ECC cluster and performing correct data reproduction will be described.

When performing the restoration process of this embodiment, the information recording and reproducing apparatus 300B or the drive apparatus 310 reproduces each ECC cluster of the information recording medium 100, and checks the pre-replacement position information of each ECC cluster.

That is, the pre-alternation position information of each ECC cluster of the information recording medium 100 is investigated, and the ECC cluster in which information indicating that it is not alternate recording (for example, a value of "0") is set in the pre-alternation position information is the source ECC cluster or not. Alternating ECC clusters are fully implemented.

Next, the value of the pre-alternation position information is not the ECC cluster indicating the non-interleaved recording information, but the ECC cluster of the replacement destination.

In FIG. 41 , the pre-alternation position information of the ECC cluster #j 7000 is set with information indicating non-alternate recording (for example, "0").

The pre-alternation position information 7700, 7701, 7702 of the ECC clusters #j+1 7001, #j+2 7002, and #j-1 7003 set information indicating PSN=b1, PSN=b2, and PSN=b3, respectively.

In this state, it is necessary to detect the final alternate destination of the ECC cluster #j 7000.

Use the pre-alternation position information to determine the latest replacement destination of ECC cluster #j 7000. That is, it can be determined by searching the pre-alternation position information.

In FIG. 41, it can be seen that the ECC cluster #j 7000 is replaced with the ECC cluster #j-1 7003.

As a result, replacement management information with ECC cluster #j 7000 as the replacement source and ECC cluster #j-1 7003 as the replacement destination can be reproduced, and the replacement management information list 1000 can be restored.

As described above, even when part or all of the replacement management information list 1000 cannot be reproduced for some reason, the latest ECC clusters can be restored by checking the value of the position information before replacement for all ECC clusters recorded on the information recording medium 100. Alternate management information list 1000.

That is, since the correspondence relationship between the replacement source and the replacement destination is known, the replacement management information list 1000 can be regenerated. By recording the regenerated replacement management information list 1000 on the information recording medium 100, normal reproduction can be performed from the next time.

In addition, as another method of specifying the latest replacement destination, there is a method of setting an update counter as attribute information of each ECC cluster.

The update counter is set to 0 for a newly recorded ECC cluster. For the ECC cluster of the alternate recording destination, 1 is added and recorded every time an update is performed.

In FIG. 41, the ECC cluster #j 7000 is set to "0", and the ECC clusters #j+1 7001, #j+2 7002, and #j-1 7003 are set to "1", "2", and "3", respectively.

The ECC cluster with the maximum value among the update counters is the latest data.

In addition, a flag (Flag-D) indicating a recording type may be provided as attribute information of each ECC cluster.

This flag is information indicating whether the ECC cluster of the replacement destination is a defective cluster alternate recording (Flag-D=0) or a pseudo-overwrite recording alternate recording (Flag-D=1).

Even when the ECC cluster #j 7000 is a defective cluster, attribute information such as position information before replacement included in the ECC cluster #j 7000 cannot be reproduced.

At this time, if there is a flag (Flag-D) indicating the recording type in the ECC cluster of the replacement destination, it can be known whether the replacement source is a defective cluster or a pre-update cluster of pseudo-overwrite recording.

Such information is useful for regenerating the alternate management information list 1000 .

In the pseudo-overwrite recording, the ECC cluster is reproduced by setting and recording information indicating that alternate recording has not been performed, the address value of the alternate source cluster, and the address value of the previous alternate destination in the pre-alternate position information, thereby reproducing the ECC cluster due to a certain This restoration process can be executed when the alternation management information list is destroyed for any of these reasons. By checking the pre-alternation position information of all recorded ECC clusters, it is possible to know whether the ECC cluster is the source ECC cluster or the ECC cluster of the exchange destination. In addition, it is possible to determine the latest replacement destination ECC cluster for the replacement source ECC cluster.

(Embodiment 8)

In this embodiment, a procedure for restoring the replacement management information list 1000 using the attribute information of each ECC cluster such as the position information before replacement will be described.

The data reproduction procedure in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 42 . Here, it is assumed that data is reproduced from the information recording medium 100 using the information recording and reproducing apparatus 300 shown in FIG. 36 .

Each step shown in FIG. 42 is executed by the drive control unit 311 of the drive device 310 .

(Step S661 ) The drive control unit 311 of the drive device 310 receives a playback instruction from the host device 305 .

(Step S662) The drive control unit 311 converts the logical address indicating the playback position included in the playback instruction into a physical address based on the initial logical address-physical address mapping.

(Step S663 ) The drive control unit 311 controls the recording and reproduction unit 314 to reproduce the replacement management information list 1000 . In addition, by the error detection and correction function, it is determined whether or not the reproduction of the latest replacement management information list 1000 has failed.

In a case where it is determined that the reproduction of the latest replacement management information list 1000 has failed, the process proceeds to step S664. In case of success, the process proceeds to step S667.

(Step S664) This step is executed when a method for reducing the processing amount of the restoration processing step described later is implemented.

(Step S665 ) The drive control unit 311 controls the recording/reproducing unit 314 to reproduce the pre-alternation position information recorded in the alternate area between the inner alternate area 107 and the outer alternate area 108 and the user data area 108 .

(Step S666) By using the reproduced position information before replacement, the address information of the replacement source cluster and the address information of the replacement destination cluster are obtained.

The drive control unit 311 controls the recording/reproducing unit 314 so as to generate the latest replacement management information list 1000 based on these information, and overwrite it in an empty area in the disc management information area 104 .

(Step S667) The drive control unit 311 searches the latest replacement management information list for replacement management information including the head PSN of the ECC cluster including the physical address obtained in step S662 as the replacement source.

If the replacement management information is found, the process proceeds to S668. If the replacement management information is not found, the process proceeds to S669.

(Step S668) The drive control section 311 sets the physical address indicated as the replacement destination by the replacement management information found in step S667 as the reproduction position.

(Step S669) The drive control unit 311 sets the physical address as the playback position obtained by converting the logical address specified by the playback instruction based on the initial logical address-physical address mapping.

(Step S670) The drive control unit 311 controls the recording and reproduction unit 314 to reproduce data from the reproduction position set in the previous step.

As described above, when the latest defect management information list cannot be reproduced, the data can be correctly read by the restoration process of the alternate management information list performed in steps S664-S666.

However, according to the method described above, since the ECC clusters are replaced with the user data area in the pseudo-overwrite recording, it is necessary to read all the ECC clusters in the recorded area in the user data area to obtain position information before replacement. Therefore, it takes a very long processing time to search the pre-alternation position information of all the ECC clusters.

Next, a method for reducing the processing amount of the playback processing steps including this restoration processing will be described.

In this embodiment, when the content of the replacement management information list 1000 is updated, it is overwritten in an empty area in the disc management information area 104 .

Since this recording is post-writing, the previous replacement management information list 1000 remains on the information recording medium 100 as it is, and as a result, all update histories of the replacement management information list 1000 remain on the information recording medium 100 .

Furthermore, even if the latest replacement management information list 1000 cannot be reproduced, or cannot be recorded due to sudden power failure during recording, etc., the previous replacement management information list 1000 is still recorded on the information recording medium 100 .

Therefore, when the restoration process of the replacement management information list 1000 is started, the previous replacement management information list 1000 , that is, the latest replacement management information list among the replacement management information lists 1000 successfully reproduced is selected and used.

Next, repair processing procedures for reducing the amount of processing will be described.

(Step S664) Select the most recent replacement management information list among the replacement management information lists 1000 that have been reproduced successfully.

(Step S665) In the replacement area and the user data area, the pre-allocation position information is reproduced from the area containing the data recorded in the ECC block indicated by the replacement management information registered in the latest replacement management information list The data recorded after the data.

(Step S666) The latest replacement management information list is generated based on the reproduced pre-alternation position information and the latest replacement management information list.

FIG. 43A is a diagram illustrating a procedure for restoring the latest replacement management information list using the previous replacement management information list 1000 shown in FIG. 43B .

FIG. 43A shows the data structure on the information recording medium 100 at a certain point in time.

Assign track #N 8000, track #N+1 8001, and the data has been recorded in LRA8101, LRA8102 respectively.

FIG. 43B shows the previous alternation management information list 1000 for this state.

When the replacement management information list 1000 is repaired, the PSN indicated by the replacement destination location information 1013 of the previous replacement management information list 1000 shown in FIG. 42B is checked.

Regarding the PSN value, the PSN having the maximum value in each track on the information recording medium 100 is the latest replacement destination among the information registered in the previous replacement management information list 1000 shown in FIG. 43B .

This is because sequential recording is performed within each track of the information recording medium 100 .

In the case of track #N 8000 in FIG. 43A, the ECC cluster with PSN=a0 is the latest replacement destination among the information registered in the previous replacement management information list 1000 shown in FIG. 43B.

Similarly, for track #N+18001, the ECC cluster with PSN=b2 is the latest replacement destination among the information registered in the previous replacement management information list 1000 shown in FIG. 43B .

In the latest replacement management information list for which reproduction or recording has failed, one of the ECC clusters following the latest replacement destination position among the information registered in the replacement management information list 1000 is configured as the replacement destination.

Specifically, in the case of track #N 8000, one of the ECC clusters after PSN=a0 is configured as an alternate destination.

Similarly, in the case of track #N+18001, one of the ECC clusters after PSN=b2 is configured as an alternate destination.

Also, it can be seen that there is no replacement destination in the unrecorded area.

The unrecorded area can be determined by looking at the value of LRA 213 in the latest track management information 210, or by actually reproducing sequentially from the beginning of the search range and reading changes in physical conditions such as changes in the reproduced signal.

Alternatively, a provision may be made to record an ECC cluster in which all padding data is embedded at the start position of the unrecorded area.

Thus, when the restoration process described above is taken into consideration, areas including data recorded after the recorded data registered in the most recent replacement management information list that has been successfully reproduced are searched for each track, and the pre-change position information is searched for these areas as a search range. That's it.

Specifically, only a part of the search range 8201 and the search range 8202 shown in FIG. 43A are reproduced, and if the location information before the replacement of the ECC clusters included in the range is checked, the previous replacement management information list shown in FIG. 42B can be used. 1000 to fix up-to-date alternate management info list.

This method eliminates the need to reproduce the entire information recording medium 100, and greatly reduces the amount of processing required for restoration of the alternate management information list. In other words, the latest replacement management information list can be created by generating replacement management information using the position information before replacement reproduced from the search range and reflecting it in the latest replacement management information list that has been successfully reproduced.

In addition, when the segment management information 200 and the replacement management information list 1000 are recorded together, the history of the segment management information 200 is also recorded on the information recording medium 100 . In this case, the segment management information 200 may be used to set the search range of the pre-alternation location information.

Specifically, it can be seen that the area where data is recorded after the position where the most recent replacement management information list 1000 that has been successfully reproduced is recorded is the area that is recorded after the most recent replacement management information list 1000 that has been successfully reproduced is recorded. The position indicated by the last data recording position information (LRA) in the track registered in the segment management information 200 . Therefore, by setting this area as a search range for investigating the pre-alternation position information, it is possible to further reduce the amount of processing required for restoration processing of the replacement management information list.

An example of repairing the replacement management information list 1000 using a playback instruction was described, but it can also be performed using a restoration instruction.

In the embodiment of the present invention, an example in which the replacement management information list 1000 is recorded in the disk management information area 104 is described, but it is not limited to the disk management information area 104. For example, the replacement management information list 1000 may also be recorded in the replacement area. in the unrecorded area of .

The present invention is intended to provide a drive device and the like which can use a user data area without waste in pseudo-overwrite recording of a write-once optical disc.

Claims (1)

1. A method for reproducing data recorded in a write-once recording medium, characterized in that: said write-once recording medium comprises an alternate area and a user data area, The alternate area and the user data area respectively include a plurality of ECC clusters, The multiple ECC clusters respectively include multiple physical sectors, Pre-alternation position information is respectively recorded in the plurality of ECC clusters, When the data recording performed according to the recording instruction is overwriting, information indicating that alternate recording is not performed is set in the pre-alternation position information, When the data recording performed according to the recording instruction is the first pseudo-overwrite recording, information indicating a position specified by the recording instruction is set in the pre-alternation position information, When the data recording executed according to the recording instruction is the second or later pseudo-overwrite recording, setting information indicating a replacement destination of a position specified by the recording instruction to the pre-alternation position information, The method includes processing with the steps of: receive reproduction instructions; determining whether reproduction of the latest alternate management information list has failed in response to the reproduction instruction; In a case where it is determined that the reproduction of the latest replacement management information list has failed, reproducing the position information before replacement recorded in the replacement area and the user data area; generating the latest replacement management information list based on the reproduced pre-alternation position information; and Recording the latest replacement management information list in the specified location.

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